3   1822  01117  3804 


yu  THOUSAND 
YEARS  OF  MISSIONS 
BEFORE  CAREY 


LEMUEL  CALL  BARNES 


'^ 


The  CELLAR  BOOK  SHOP 

Box  6,  College  Park  Sta. 

Detroit  21,  Mich.  -U.S.A. 


3  1822  01117  3804 


Bv 

£100 
t  3  '.' 


THE  ADVANCED  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE  COURSES 

VOLUME  II 

TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS   OF 
MISSIONS  BEFORE  CAREY 


£wo  Cbousand  years  of  missions 
Before  Carey 


BASED   UPON   AND    EMBODYING    MANY   OF  THE 
EARLIEST   EXTANT   ACCOUNTS 


BY 


LEMUEL    CALL    BARNES 

MINISTER,  FOURTH  AVENUE  CHURCH 
PITTSBURO 


WITH  MAP  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


SECOND  EDITION 


CHICAGO 

THE  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE  PRESS 

1900 


Copyright,  1900 
By  LEMUEL  CALL  BARNES 


Set  up,  Electrotyped  and  Printed,  Sept.- Nov.,  1900 
(Second  Edition  Oct.,  1901 ) 


To 

THE  TWO 

Who  Have  Done  Most 
To  Kindle  and  To  Foster 
My   Interest   in   Missions. 


FORESPEECH. 

It  is  said  that  Shakspere  owed  much  of  his  broad 
mental  vision  to  the  accounts  of  the  world's  explora- 
tion made  available  in  English  by  Richard  Hakluyt  and 
that  Milton  was  still  deeper  in  debt  to  the  same  work. 
A  large  outlook  on  God's  world  is  the  necessary  basis 
of  lofty  inspiration.  But  the  "Principal  Navigations" 
of  missionary  enterprise  have  never  been  brought 
together  in  any  one  book  or  set  of  books.  After  pre- 
paring the  copious  bibliography  of  missions  for  the 
London  Conference  in  1888,  Dr.  Jackson,  Secretary  of 
the  American  Society  of  Church  History,  said  in  the 
journal  of  that  society  : 

We  have  some  short  histories  which  try  to  give  an  outline 
of  the  story:  e.  g.,  Mr.  Smith's  "Short  History  of  Christian 
Missions."  .  .  .  But  no  one  who  is  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject thinks  of  being  satisfied  with  a  few  pages  written  at 
second  hand  on  the  story  of  the  spread  of  Christianity  during 
1800  years. 

The  list  of  slight  but  helpful  sketches  has  been  in- 
creased since  1888.  On  special  fields,  periods  or 
phases  of  mission  work  discussions  of  great  value  and 
real  scholarship  have  been  published,  e.  g.,  Dennis' 
"Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress"  and  Noble's 
"Redemption  of  Africa."  There  are  books  almost 
without  number  on  missions  of  the  nineteenth  century 

vii 


Viii  FORESPEECH. 

— "The  Missionary  Century."  Those  books  which  pay 
some  attention  to  a  longer  period  give  but  little  space 
to  the  earlier  times  and  next  to  none  to  any  time  be- 
tween the  primitive  and  the  recent  times,  except  for  the 
Continent  of  Europe.  The  bibliography  of  the  New 
York  Conference  of  1900  will  show  the  gap  of  1888 
still  unfilled. 

All  the  missions  originating  in  Europe  for  one  thou- 
sand years — half  of  the  period  assigned  us  for  study — 
were  of  necessity  Roman  Catholic  missions.  The  ne- 
glect to  consider  these  would  be  inexcusable  in  the 
present  work.  The  largest  missionary  library  in 
America  has  made  no  effort  to  procure  books  on 
Roman  Catholic  missions.  Most  Protestant  accounts 
of  missions  ignore  the  Roman  missions  or  touch  them 
but  slightly,  not  to  say  slightingly.  In  like  manner 
the  only  Roman  Catholic  history  of  missions  in  gen- 
eral treats  of  Protestant  missions  for  the  avowed  pur- 
pose of  disparagement.  The  present  work  is  an  en- 
deavor to  treat  all  missions  of  all  denominations  before 
the  era  of  Carey  with  critical,  but  perfectly  friendly, 
fairness. 

The  mass  of  scattered  details  to  be  kept  in  mind  at 
once  in  a  continuous  history  of  world-wide  missions 
is  so  great  that  chronological  treatment  of  the  whole 
together  would  be  unavoidably  confusing.  A  geo- 
graphical framework  lends  itself  far  more  surely  to 
unity  and  clear-cut  outlines.  A  chronological  con- 
spectus is  furnished  in  a  table  at  the  end.  The  events 
on  each  field  are  considered  for  the  most  part  in  the 
order  of  their  occurrence. 


FORESPEECH.  IX 

No  space  has  been  taken  to  consider  matters  which 
are  perfectly  germane,  are,  in  fact,  a  part  of  the  whole 
theme  of  missions  in  a  country,  such  as  its  geography, 
its  racial  types,  its  language  and  literature,  its  general 
history  in  the  period  considered,  its  theology,  above  all 
its  morals.  Even  the  sources,  resources  and  machin- 
ery of  the  missionary  work  have  had  to  be  omitted  or 
but  incidentally  treated.  That  vital  half  known  as  the 
home  side  of  foreign  missions  would  require  and  de- 
serves a  separate  treatise. 

Some  of  the  territory  surveyed  here  as  being  covered 
by  prosperous  Christian  missions  was  afterwards  lost 
to  Christianity.  Part  of  it  has  not  been  recovered  to 
this  day.  But  our  line  of  study  is  not  the  history  of 
Christianity  in  any  part  of  the  world,  it  is  the  story  of 
the  propagation  of  Christianity  in  every  part  of  the 
world.  Efforts  to  reconvert  or  proselyte  are  not  within 
our  aim. 

For  help  rendered  it  is  a  pleasure  to  record  grati- 
tude to  the  British  Museum  and  all  the  large  libraries 
of  Boston  and  vicinity,  New  York,  Baltimore,  Wash- 
ington and  Chicago.  There  is  multiform  and  extended 
obligation  to  the  library — composed  of  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand  volumes — which  the  city  of  Pitts- 
burg has  gathered  in  the  buildings  provided  for  the 
purpose  by  Mr.  Carnegie.  This  collection  has  been 
made  in  five  years  with  the  highest  judgment,  and  is 
administered  in  the  true  missionary  temper  by  Mr.  E. 
H.  Anderson  and  his  able  assistants. 

Inability  to  name  each  separate  author  who  has 
helped  in  the  preparation  of  the  work  is  deeply  re- 


FORESPEECH. 


gretted.  The  Bibliography  attached  can  only  in  part 
cover  the  need.  The  debt  of  gratitude  of  one  who  at- 
tempts to  write  a  history  in  even  one  department  cov- 
ering the  whole  earth  during  two  thousand  years  is 
simply  incalculable.  The  findings  of  fact  by  other 
students  have  been  freely  used  and  have  been  often 
the  only  dependence  for  information.  But  very  few 
quotations  have  been  indulged  from  second-hand  ac- 
counts, however  enticing. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  pages  have  been  freely  en- 
riched with  quotations  from  the  primary  sources  of  in- 
formation, so  that  the  reader  may  have  the  privilege 
of  seeing  for  himself  and  building  in  his  own  way  on 
the  original  foundations  of  knowledge  concerning  the 
subject  before  him.  This,  which  is  always  refreshing, 
is  peculiarly  desirable  in  a  field  like  the  present,  about 
many  parts  of  which  available  writings  are  so  few  that 
it  is  impracticable  for  the  general  reader  to  correct 
the  view  of  one  student  by  that  of  another.  Thus,  so 
far  as  the  plan  of  the  work  and  the  limitations  of  the 
author  allowed,  the  reader  has  been  made  an  original 
student.  It  is  more  spiritually  enkindling  to  walk  in 
the  light  than  it  is  to  walk  in  some  reflection  of  it,  espe- 
cially some  second,  third,  or,  perhaps,  thirteenth,  re- 
flection. The  aim  has  been,  however,  to  introduce  the 
words  of  even  the  primary  authors,  never  merely  for 
the  sake  of  the  special  enjoyment  they  give,  but  only 
when  they  have  such  clearness  without  need  of  com- 
ment and  such  progress  of  thought  as  to  directly  carry 
on  the  narrative. 


FORESPEECH.  XI 

The  extant  records  of  the  later  generations  of  mis- 
sions are  naturally  more  full  than  of  the  earlier.  Yet 
the  most  significant  record  of  all  is  that  of  the  first 
thirty-four  years  of  Christian  missions  given  us  in  the 
Gospels  and  the  Acts.  Quotations  from  these  earliest 
of  all  extant  accounts  are  made  in  the  rendering  of 
the  Twentieth  Centur}'  New  Testament. 

It  is  hoped  that  no  important  missionary  effort  which 
is  on  record  during  the  Two  Thousand  Years  has  failed 
of  mention.  But  limitations  of  space  have  required 
plain  and  condensed  statement.  Too  often  repression 
of  incident  and  of  glowing  appreciation  has  been  un- 
avoidable. Opportunity  for  the  necessary  research,  in 
the  midst  of  the  duties  of  an  exactirfg  pastorate,  has 
been  possible  only  by  the  kindness  of  a  church  which  is 
in  fact  as  well  as  in  theory  devoted  to  missions — a  peo- 
ple who  endeavor  to  pray  with  deep  sincerity,  "Thy 
kingdom  come."  If  this  little  study  in  missions  is  of 
any  use  to  the  cause,  the  contribution  is  theirs. 

In  addition  to  valuable  suggestions  from  several  per- 
sonal friends,  there  is  one  nearer  still, a  most  sympathet- 
ic and  earnest  coadjutor  in  every  missionary  purpose  of 
life,  who  has  assisted  in  the  present  work  by  obtaining 
material  from  Spanish  sources  and  writing  much  of 
chapter  X,  besides  making  the  Index  of  Names  and 
Subjects,  and  rendering  invaluable  aid  in  the  finishing 
of  the  whole  book. 


CONTENTS. 


Part  I-GENESIS  OF  MISSIONS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I — Ethnic  Movements  Missionary,  -  i 
II — The  Messianic  Race  Missionary,  13 
III — The  Messiah  Missionary,         -  33 


Part  II-DISTRIBUTION  OF  MISSIONS. 

Asia. 

IV— Syria,       .            ...  46 

V — Asia  Minor,  -  59 

VI— Persia,  73 

VII— India,              ...  87 

VIII — China  and  Tatary,        -  -        107 

IX — China  and  Tatary  (Continued),        132 

X — Philippine  Islands,              -  150 

XI — Japan  and  Formosa,       -  -        169 

Africa. 

XII — Egypt  and  Abyssinia,    -  -        186 

XIII — North  and  West  Africa,    -  199 

XIV — South  Africa,     -            -  218 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

Europe. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XV — Greece  and  Italy,       -       •   -  228 

XVI — Spain  and  France,   -  -  248 

XVII — Britain,  Ireland  and  Scotland,  257 

XVIII — England,  -  -  -  273 

XIX — Germanic  Regions,  -  293 

XX — Scandinavian    and     Slavonic 

Regions,  -  -  311 

Arctic  Regions. 

XXI — Iceland,  Greenland  and  La- 
brador, -  -  331 

America. 

XXII — Spanish  America,  -  -        355 

XXIII — French  America,      -  -  379 

XXIV — English  America,  -  -        396 

Part  III— CONTINUITY  OF  MISSIONS. 

XXV — Continuities,  -  -  426 

Racial. 

Intehectuai,. 

Scriptural. 

Literary. 

Social. 

Organic. 

Spiritual. 

Chronological  Table,  -  -        445 

Selected  Bibliography,  -  455 

Index  of  Names  and  Subjects,         -        487 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ARRANGED  IN   ALPHABETICAL  ORDER 

Page 

Church  at  Santa  Barbara,  California,  -  -  379 

Church  of  St.  Martin,  Canterbury,  -  -  279 

'Tfte  Mother  Church  of  England." 

Church  of  St.  Pantelimon,  Thessalonica,        -  -  232 

[A  choice  specimen  of  Byzantine  architecture.] 

Clovis,  The  Baptism  of,       -  -  -  -  256 

J.  Rigo,  from  The  Baptist  Encyclopedia,  by  permission  of  the  Publish, 
er,  Louis  H.  Evarts. 

Columbus  as  St.    Christo-fer,   bearing  the  Infant  Christ, 
meaning  Christianity,  across  the  ocean,  -         358 

From  the  map  of  Juan  de  la  Casa,  A.  D.  1500,  in  C.  R.  Beazley's  Prince 
Henry  the  Navigator,  by  permission  of  the  Publishers,  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons. 

Columbus  Departing  for  America,     -  356 

A.  Gisbert. 

Departure  of  the  Pilgrims  from  Delft  Haven,  -  397 

Charles  W.  Cope. 

Dober,  John  Loehnard,       ....  423 

The  first  Moravian  Missionary. 

Egede,  Hans,        -----  341 

From  Jesse  Page's  Amid  Greenland  Snows,  by  permission  of  the  Pub- 
lishers, Fleming  H.  Revell  Co. 

Francis  of  Assisi,  ....  193 

Francesco  Francia. 
Gnadenthal,  South  Africa,  -  226 

Hall  in  which  John  Huss  was  tried;  Constance,  442 

XV 


Xvi  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Henry  the  Navigator  in  mourning  dress,         -  -  210 

From  Beazley's  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,  by  permission  of  the 
Publishers,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.  The  original  copy  is  frontispiece  of  the 
Paris  Manuscript  of  Azurara's  Discovery  and  Conquest  of  Guinea. 

Herrnhiit,  Saxony,  -  345 

Lichtenau,  Southern  Greenland,        ...  348 

Marquette,  Jacques  [James],  -  -  389 

Photograph  from  statuary  in  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol,  Washington 
G.  Trentanove,  Sculptor. 

Mars  Hill,  To-day,  -  -  -  228 

The  Missionary's  Story,      ....  426 

J.  G.  Vibert. 

Nain,  Labrador,  ....  352 

Nestorian  Tablet  of  India,  Seventh  Century.     The  oldest 
Christian  inscription  in  India.     Reduced,  -  91 

From  George  Smith's  The  Conversion  of  India,  by  permission  of  the 
Publishers,  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co. 

Nestorian  Tablet  of  Si-gnan-fu,  China;  Eighth  Century.  In- 
scription in  Chinese  and  Syriac.     Reduced,  108-109 
From  George  Smith's  The  Conversion  of  India,  by  permission  of  the 

Publishers,  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  at  Lystra,  -  -  63 

Raphael. 

Paul  at  Ephesus,  -  *  -  -  67 

Dor6. 

Paul  on  Mars  Hill,  -  -  I 

Raphael. 

Politarch  Inscription;  the  Vardar  Gate,  Thessalonica,  434 

From  F,.  D.  Burton's,  The  Politarchs  in  Macedonia  and  Elsewhere,  by 
permission  of  the  Author. 

Schall,  Johann  Adam  von,  as  a  Mandarin,      -  -  139 

From  Steinmetz's  History  of  the  Jesuits. 

Temple  of  Diana,  The,  at  Ephesus,  a  restoration,  -  65 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  XVll 

Williams,  Roger,  -  -  -  4°° 

From  The  Baptist  Encyclopaedia,  by  permission  of  the  Publisher,  Louis 
H.  Fvarts. 

Xavier,  Francis,  -----  171 

From  D.  Murray's  Story  of  Japan,  by  permission  of  the  Publishers 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 

Zinzendorf  und  Pottendorf,  Nikolaus  Ludwig,  Count  von,     419 
From  portrait  in  Herrnhiit. 

The  Parable  of  the  Sower,  •  -  445 

Map  of  Mission- Fields  by  Centuries,  -  ■         447 


CHAPTER  I. 


ETHNIC  MOVEMENTS  MISSIONARY. 


I.  On  Mars'  Hill.  2.  God  in  Athens.  3.  God  never 
abdicates.  4.  Strategic  Hellas.  5.  The  Greeks  gifted. 
6.  Scattered  abroad.  7.  Roman  rule.  8.  Highways  of 
missions.  9.  Favorable  laws.  10.  World-wide  con- 
ceptions. 11.  "That  rabble  of  gods."  12  Wanted— a 
conscience. 

I.  The  Greek  race  furnished  the  finest  embodiment 
of  ethnic  culture.  Athens  was  the  Queen  of  Gentile 
Cities, 

"the  eye  of  Greece,  mother  of  arts 
And  eloquence." 

Paul  the  Missionary,  looking  that  queenly  culture 
straight  in  the  eye,  at  the  moment  of  his  highest  inspi- 
ration, had  the  insight  to  see  and  the  breadth  of  sym- 
pathy to  say  that  the  soul  of  ethnic  development  is 
God.  A  smaller  man  would  have  been  too  narrow  to 
see  it.  A  man  less  inspired  would  have  been  too  con- 
ventional to  say  it.  But  the  pre-eminent  missionary, 
swayed  by  the  supreme  Spirit,  divined  the  reality  and 
put  it  in  words  as  plain  as  sunbeams.  He  not  only 
said  what  any  high-souled  Jew  might  possibly  have 
said  about  God,  "The  God  who  made  the  world  and 
all  things  in  it — he  I   say,   Lord   from  the  first  of 

1 


2  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Heaven  and  Earth,  does  not  dwell  in  temples  made 
by  hands,  nor  yet  do  human  hands  minister  to  his 
wants,  as  though  he  could  need  anything,  since  he  is 
himself  the  giver  to  every  one  of  life,  breath  and  every- 
thing else,"  but  he  added,  in  words  so  luminous  that 
to  this  day  many  Christians  are  dazzled  by  them  and 
fail  to  grasp  their  full  intensity  of  meaning:  "He 
made  every  race  of  men  from  one  stock  and  caused 
them  to  settle  on  all  parts  of  the  earth's  surface,  first 
fixing  a  duration  for  their  Day  and  the  limits  of  their 
settlement,  so  that  they  might  search  for  God,  if 
after  all  they  might  feel  their  way  to  him  and  find 
him." 

2.  The  living  God  has  never  slumbered  or  slept 
in  his  purpose  of  good  for  all  humanity.  He  has 
been  alive  and  the  life  of  all  life  in  every  age  and 
in  every  land.  His  energy  has  been  the  moving  force 
in  all  human  progress.  Intractable  materials  have 
been  used,  however  unconsciously  to  themselves,  for 
his  high  and  holy  purposes.  Within  all  the  migra- 
tions, colonizations  and  civilizations  of  men,  the  living 
God  is  the  impelling  power.  Paul  declares  that  the 
boundaries  of  Greece  are  determined  by  him  as  well 
as  the  boundaries  of  Palestine.  Men  of  Athens  are 
his  offspring  as  well  as  men  of  Jerusalem. 

The  life  of  God  in  the  life  of  mankind,  like  his  life 
in  a  vine,  sends  it  upward  and  outward.  Every 
impulse  onward  is  a  mission,  a  divine  sending.  Hebrew 
"mal'ak"  (messenger),  Greek  "apostle,"  Latin  "mis- 
sionary," Anglo-Saxon  "sent"  are  all  one  word  in 
different  tongues.     "Go"  is  the  core  of  the  idea  and 


ETHNIC    MOVEMENTS    MISSIONARY.  3 

God  is  the  ultimate  Author  of  all  going.  He  is  the 
universal  Sender.  "It  is  in  Him  that  we  move." 
The  fountain  of  the  "going"  in  the  human  race  lies 
deeper  than  words,  deeper  than  reasoning;  it  wells 
up  out  of  the  divine  depths  of  ultimate  Being.  All 
men  and  all  races  of  men  that  amount  to  anything 
move  under  the  brief  but  tremendous  commission, 
"Go."  With  or  without  the  intervention  of  thought, 
even  anterior  to  the  development  of  highly  specialized 
organs  of  intelligence,  this  one  short  and  sharp  com- 
mand, like  a  bolt  out  of  heaven,  smites  and  charges  the 
very  nerves  of  life.  Things  which  do  not  "go"  never 
lived  or  else  they  are  dead.  Human  life  itself  is  a  mis- 
sion.     Men  are  sent  of  God. 

3.  When  the  results  of  any  particular  sending  are 
wide-reaching,  we  see  plainly  that  it  was  a  mission. 
When  an  ethnos,  a.  whole  race,  is  concerned,  it  becomes 
conspicuous  and  demands  devout  study.  We  can  not 
get  too  distinctly  before  us  the  fact  that  every  ethnic 
movement,  from  Abraham  to  Dewey,  is  a  mission,  a 
sacred  sending.  God  has  somehow  said,  "Go."  Faith 
insists  that  even  when  there  is  a  large  admixture  of 
unholy  human  passion,  God  is  somewhere  behind  the 
movement.  He  never  abdicates  the  office  of  Com- 
mander-in-chief. The  sin-reared  cross  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  a  supreme  example  of  this  fact.  There  was  the 
mission  of  missions. 

The  inscription  on  that  cross  "was  written  in 
Hebrew,  in  Latin,  and  in  Greek."  These  were  the 
families  of  mankind  which  had  most  directly  to  do 
with   the   sending  of   God's   great   purpose   of   love 


4  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

throughout  the  world.     Each  one  of  them  had  a  mis- 
sion of  its  own  to  perform. 

4.  Look,  first,  at  the  divine  mission  of  the  Greeks. 
"The  limits  of  their  settlement"  secured  them  an 
admirable  training  for  a  special  mission  in  the  world. 
Separated  by  natural  boundaries  from  the  effacing 
inundations  of  barbarism,  they  had  opportunity  to 
develop  a  high  degree  of  civilization.  Like  the  young 
of  marsupial  animals,  they  were  carried  in  a  pocket 
of  the  continent  of  Europe  until  they  had  time  to 
grow  strong.  Their  comparative  safety  in  that  penin- 
sular home  of  theirs  is  marked  by  the  meaning  of 
such  great  words  in  human  history  as  Marathon, 
Salamis,  and  Thermopylae.  These  were  gateways  at 
which  they  were  able  to  stay  the  inflow  of  the  hordes 
of  barbarians.  The  little  land  itself  was  so  divided 
by  mountains  and  by  estuaries  of  the  sea  as  to  promote 
independence  in  the  various  neighborhoods,  and  indi- 
viduality of  character.  The  center  of  Greek  life  was 
the  municipality.  The  cities  of  Greece  were  practi- 
cally the  states  of  Greece.  And  these  little  cities 
acquired  a  feeling  of  independence  and  a  sense  of 
freedom  never  before  enjoyed  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
Among  them  humanity  reached  a  pitch  of  vigorous 
individuality  which  it  never  had  possessed.  For  its 
size  Greece  had  an  immense  sea-coast,  which  called 
out  sea-faring,  commercial  and  colonizing  habits  in 
the  people.  To-  this  day,  though  so  long  under  the 
heel  of  the  Turk,  they  are  the  keen  tradesmen  of  the 
Levant,  the  "Yankees"  of  the  Orient.  This  land  was 
midway  between  the  East  and  the  West,  so  that  it 


ETHNIC    MOVEMENTS    MISSIONARY.  5 

was  constantly  in  close  touch  with  both  the  Orient 
and  the  Occident.  Greece  is  a  part  of  Europe,  but 
the  Athenians,  to-day,  in  ordinary  conversation, 
speak  of  "going  to  Europe"  as  if  they  were  inhabitants 
of  another  continent.  This  little  land  was  at  the 
pivotal  point  in  the  history  and  in  the  development  of 
the  nations  of  antiquity. 

5.  Again,  the  "search  for  God,"  of  which  the  apostle 
speaks,  made  by  this  wonderful  people  carried  them 
in  purely  intellectual  attainments  far  beyond  any  other 
people  who  had  ever  lived.  The  philosophy  of  the 
world  at  this  moment  is  rooted  in  the  ideas  which  were 
developed  and  put  into  words  by  the  great  Greek  mas- 
ters of  thought.  Not  only  did  theories  of  life  reach 
an  advanced  stage  of  development  among  them,  but 
the  putting  of  ideas  into  forms  of  beauty  was  so  highly 
developed  that  their  art  has  never  since  been  equaled 
in  many  directions.  In  sculpture  Phidias  and  Praxi- 
teles have  had  no  rivals  in  all  the  ages  since  their 
day.  In  literature  we  still  speak  of  Homer,  iEschylus, 
and  Demosthenes  as  living  masters.  The  missionary 
appealed  to  their  own  poets.  "His  offspring,  too,  are 
we." 

The  Greeks  had  a  linguistic  gift  which  fitted  them  for 
world-wide  service.  Their  language  had  become  so 
facile  an  instrument  of  thought  and  feeling  that  they 
were  able  to  excel  all  other  people  in  expressing  the 
finer  shades  of  the  experiences  of  the  spirit.  This  lan- 
guage of  theirs,  so  highly  and  finely  developed,  became 
the  vehicle  for  bringing  the  messages  of  God  in  the 
Scriptures   to  the   ears  of   all   mankind.      Centuries 


6  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

before  Christ  came  into  the  world  the  Old  Testament 
writings  had  been  translated  into  the  Greek  tongue. 
Christ  and  the  apostles  made  most  of  their  quotations 
from  the  Scriptures  out  of  this  Greek  translation.  It 
was  through  the  medium  of  this  language  that  the  Gos- 
pel could  be  preached  from  end  to  end  of  the  Roman 
world.  Everywhere  there  were  men  and  women  who 
understood  Greek.  The  prevalence  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage has  been  well  called  a  temporary  suspension  of 
the  confusion  of  tongues.  Such  was  the  mission  of 
this  people  in  preparing  a  vehicle  in  which  the  divine 
thought  could  be  carried  to  all  mankind. 

6.  The  people,  so  wonderfully  fitted  to  be  the  pio- 
neers of  a  higher  life,  were  sent  by  the  almighty  pur- 
pose throughout  the  world.  The  hand  by  which  God 
thrust  them  forth  on  their  mighty  mission  was  an 
ambitious  man,  Alexander  the  Great.  Full  of  Greek 
sentiment  as  well  as  of  personal  ambition,  he  started  on 
his  tour  of  eastern  conquest.  In  ancient  Troy,  of  which 
Homer  had  sung,  he  poured  out  libations  to  the  gods 
of  the  Greeks,  and  then  entered  upon  that  career  which 
carried  him  from  land  to  land  as  a  restless  conqueror 
until  he  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  great  river  of  India. 
In  a  remarkably  short  lifetime  he  founded  city  after 
city,  named  many  of  them  after  himself,  and  one  of 
the  greatest  of  them,  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  became  a 
center  of  philosophy,  of  art,  of  education,  and  of 
religious  thought,  for  many  centuries  afterward.  In 
his  conquest  of  the  world  Alexander  carried  the  Greek 
language  everywhere  so  that  it  became  the  vehicle  of 
the  Gospel  which  was  to  be  preached.      It  is  impossi- 


ETHNIC    MOVEMENTS    MISSIONARY.  J 

ble  for  us  to  see  how  the  Word  of  God,  even  after 
Jesus  had  brought  it  in  perfection,  could  have  reached 
the  world  had  not  the  Almighty  Father  first  prepared 
this  Greek  nation  and  this  marvelous  Greek  tongue,  and 
then  sent  that  man  of  colossal  ambition,  the  son  of 
Philip,  in  his  course  of  conquest  throughout  the  world. 
7.  Now,  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  divine  mission 
of  the  Romans.  They  were  given  a  genius  different 
from  that  of  the  Greeks,  but  a  genius  in  itself  as 
great,  a  genius  for  discipline,  for  organization  and  for 
government.  The  Roman  legions  were  the  most  splen- 
did bodies  of  soldiers  in  the  world.  Not  only  were 
they  equipped  with  magnificent  brute  force,  but  they 
were  subjected  to  a  discipline  which  affected  the  higher 
phases  of  life.  Everywhere  in  the  New  Testament 
when  we  come  in  contact  with  a  Roman  military  officer 
we  come  in  contact  with  a  man  of  high  soul,  a  noble 
gentleman  as  well  as  a  soldier.  These  men  were 
sent  throughout  the  world  gradually ;  not  suddenly,  like 
the  versatile,  mercurial  Greeks,  who  flashed  in  a  few 
months  over  the  world  like  a  meteor  nucleated  about 
Alexander  and  almost  as  suddenly  passed  out  of  polit- 
ical power.  They  left  only  the  more  spiritual  elements 
of  their  life,  their  thought  and  their  language,  strewn 
over  the  world.  But  the  Romans  moved  slowly  from 
land  to  land.  As  they  went  they  assimilated  each  coun- 
try in  some  way  to  Rome,  made  it  tributary  to  the 
Mistress  of  the  World,  so  that  in  course  of  time  the 
whole  civilized  earth  was  under  a  single  government, 
as  never  before  or  since ;  and  this  government  was 
efficient  and  practical  in  its  administration  of  affairs. 


8  TWO   THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

8.  The  Romans  cast  up  highways  for  the  trans- 
mission of  the  Gospel  everywhere.  The  Roman  roads 
started  from  the  golden  mile-stone  in  the  City  of  the 
Seven  Hills  in  five  directions,  and  ran  throughout  the 
empire.  Even  in  the  remote  provinces  these  roads 
were  so  perfect,  so  much  better  than  our  best  pave- 
ments of  today,  that  a  man  could  read  a  manuscript 
book  as  he  rode  along  in  his  carriage.  The  eighth 
chapter  of  Acts  tells  us  of  such  an  experience.  This 
great  system  of  highways  made  it  possible  for  the 
messengers  of  the  cross  to  carry  the  message  from 
end  to  end  of  the  empire.  A  man  could  start  at  Jeru- 
salem, and  going  over  the  same  road  along  which  the 
Ethiopian  went,  reach  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  then  go 
westward  to  Cyrene,  and  on  past  old  Carthage  to  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules.  Crossing  the  straits  into  Spain, 
he  could  drive  through  that  land  and  through  all  Gaul. 
Having  crossed  the  British  Channel,  his  chariot  wheels 
need  not  stop  short  of  the  Scottish  border.  On  the 
return  trip  he  could  pass  through  the  Netherlands, 
through  Germany,  Switzerland  and  the  Danubian  re- 
gions to  the  Hellespont,  then  through  Asia  Minor  and 
Syria  until  he  reached  Jerusalem.  This  would  have 
been  a  circuit  of  seven  thousand  miles  on  splendid  Ro- 
man highways  cast  up  at  the  will  of  the  Commander- 
in-chief  of  all  nations,  in  order  that  the  Gospel  might 
run,  have  free  course  and  be  glorified.  On  this  great 
circle  and  its  radii  there  was  a  system  of  post  stations 
for  the  convenience  of  those  who  were  able  to  ride.  It 
was  along  these  thoroughfares  that  the  messengers  of 
Christ  found  the  possibilities  of  distant  travel,  though 
they  generally  went  on  foot. 


ETHNIC    MOVEMENTS    MISSIONARY.  9 

9.  More  important  than  the  highways  was  the  pro- 
tection to  life  that  was  given  by  the  laws  of  the 
Romans.  They  extended  the  realms  of  peace  and 
safety.  Wherever  they  went  they  carried  the  protec- 
tion of  law  and  order.  You  remember  how  often 
Paul  appealed  to  it.  In  Jerusalem,  the  sacred  city  of 
his  own  nation,  he  appealed  to  the  law  of  Rome.  In 
Philippi,  at  his  first  point  of  attack  on  the  continent 
of  Europe,  he  appealed  to  the  Roman  law.  The  spread 
of  the  Gospel  was  under  the  aegis  of  this  Roman  law, 
which  until  the  present  hour  is  the  basis  of  the  lav/ 
of  civilized  nations.  World-wide  peace  had  been  estab- 
lished at  the  time  of  the  coming  of  Jesus.  The  great 
Latin  writers  are  never  tired  of  singing  the  praises  of 
this  age  of  peace.  The  Gospel  had  an  opportunity,  as 
it  could  not  possibly  have  had  if  there  had  been  two 
score  of  nations,  half  of  them  warring  with  the  other 
half  through  this  mighty  stretch  of  the  civilized  world, 
instead  of  the  one  majestic,  calm,  mighty,  Roman  gov- 
ernment. 

10.  It  was  the  mission  of  the  Romans  in  the  world 
not  only  to  prepare  the  way  but  also  to  prepare  the 
mind  for  the  all-embracing  message.  They  created 
wide-reaching  conceptions  into  which  the  Gospel  of 
a  universal  Fatherhood  and  a  man-wide  brotherhood 
could  be  received.  Cicero  says :  "This  universe  forms 
one  immeasurable  commonwealth  and  city,  common 
alike  to  Gods  and  mortals.  And  as  in  earthly  states 
certain  particular  laws,  which  we  shall  hereafter 
describe,  govern  the  particular  relationships  of  par- 
ticular tribes,  so  in  the  nature  of  things  doth  an  univer- 


IO  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

sal  law,  far  more  magnificent  and  resplendent,  regu- 
late the  affairs  of  that  universal  city  where  gods  and 
men  compose  one  vast  association."  The  Romans, 
as  well  as  the  Greeks,  prepared  the  mental  way  for 
the  Gospel. 

ii.  There  is  a  further  mission  which  Greeks  and 
Romans  had  in  common.  They  worked  out  a  com- 
plete demonstration  of  the  fact  that  men,  even  under 
the  most  favorable  conditions  for  feeling  their  way 
to  God,  fail  to  find  him  fully  without  a  special  revela- 
tion of  his  love  and  beneficent  will.  Listen  to  this 
statement  of  the  apostle  himself,  which  is  so  clear  on 
this  point  that  there  is  no  mistaking  it:  "Men  of 
Athens,  on  every  hand  I  see  signs  of  your  being  very 
religious.  Indeed  as  I  was  going  about  and  looking 
at  the  objects  that  you  worship,  I  observed  an  altar 
on  which  the  dedication  was  inscribed,  'To  an  Un- 
known God.'  What  then  you  are  worshiping  with- 
out knowledge  is  what  I  am  now  preaching  to  you." 
Their  ignorance  of  God  had  descended  further  even 
than  agnosticism.  Their  polytheism  had  fallen  into 
atheism.  At  first  the  Romans  had  few  gods,  but 
whenever  they  took  a  walled  city  they  evoked  the  gods 
of  that  city  to  come  out  and  join  the  Roman  side, 
then  they  would  establish  them  as  Roman  deities. 
By  this  and -other  processes  it  came  to  pass  that  the 
gods  of  Rome  were  almost  innumerable,  and  the 
more  gods  there  were  the  less  became  the  real  worship 
of  any  god.  The  system  of  polytheism  became  so 
vast  that  it  tumbled  to  ruin.  Seneca,  one  of  the  great 
Roman  thinkers,  says ;     "All  that  rabble  of  gods  which 


ETHNIC    MOVEMENTS    MISSIONARY.  II 

the  superstitions  of  ages  have  heaped  up  we  shall 
adore  in  such  a  way  as  to  remember  that  their  wor- 
ship belongs  rather  to  custom  than  to  reality."  Cicero 
more  than  once  quotes  Cato  as  saying  that  he  did 
not  see  how  the  soothsayers  could  avoid  laughing  each 
other  in  the  face. 

12.  With    the    decay    of    sincerity    in    religion    had 
come,  what  always  comes  sooner  or  later  along  with 
that,  a  decay  in  morals.     The  social  life  of  the  Greek 
and  Roman  world  had  very  little  in  it  which  we  can 
admire.      Its  amusements  were  sights  of  bloodshed. 
Julius  Caesar  put  into  the  circus  for  the  amusement 
of  the  people  two  contending  armies,  five  hundred  foot 
soldiers,   three   hundred   cavalrymen   and   twenty   ele- 
phants, to  fight  a  sanguinary  contest.     Augustus,  the 
magnificent,  from  whom  the  Augustan  age  is  named, 
put  pairs  of  gladiators  to  fight  each  other  to  death 
until    ten    thousand    men   had    been    slain.      Political 
life    was    as    corrupt    as    social    life.      That    high- 
souled  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  public  which 
once  had   marked  the   Romans   and   lifted   them   into 
power    was    changed    into    a    greedy    scramble    for 
place.      The  name  of  Nero  is  almost  a  synonym  of 
everything  that  is  base  in  human  history.     The  domes- 
tic life,  the  very  center  of  all  worthy  life  in  any  nation, 
was  as  full  of  corruption  as  the  social  and  political 
life.     The    Romans    boasted    that    for    five    hundred 
years,  in  the  early  and  heroic  days,  there  never  had 
been  a    single    divorce    among    them,    but    the    era 
came  when  divorces  were  so  common  that  women  reck- 
oned time  by  the  number  of  their  divorces  and  sue- 


12  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

cessive  husbands.  Children  were  often  unwelcome, 
and  were  thrust  out  to  die  by  exposure  unless  some 
charitable  hand  should  rescue  them.  This  practice 
was  not  limited  to  the  debased  as  it  is  now,  but  was 
allowed  by  law,  and  was  advocated  by  Aristotle  and 
other  great  masters  of  thought  in  the  Greek-Roman 
world.  Even  Plato — the  soul  who  stood  nearest  to 
Socrates  and  most  completely  reflected  the  thought  of 
that  lofty  master — Plato  advocated  the  destruction  of 
children  that  were  not  wanted. 

The  running  glimpse  which  we  have  now  taken  of 
prominent  characteristics  of  the  ethnic  world  has  been 
enough  to  show  that  the  great  non-Jewish  races  had 
a  vital  part  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  coming  of 
the  King  and  for  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom 
throughout  the  world.  They  did  it  by  their  miserable 
failures  as  well  as  by  their  magnificent  achievements. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  MESSIANIC  RACE  MISSIONARY. 


13.  Patriarch  and  poets.  14.  Prophets.  15.  The 
dispersion  in  Asia.  16.  In  Africa.  17.  In  Eu- 
rope. 18.  Everywhere.  19.  The  New  Testament 
as  to  the  dispersion.  20.  Hebrew  mission-houses. 
21.  Pagan  antagonism.  22.  Distinct  propagation.  23. 
Philo  a  missionary.  24.  He  advocates  a  liberal  mission- 
ary policy.  25.  Hebrew  missions  commonly  unappre- 
ciated. 26.  Bible  translation.  27.  Its  uses.  28. 
Hebrew  missions    fruitful.  29.  Conspicuous   converts. 

30.  Among  the  masses.  31.  Juvenal's  testimony.  32. 
Converts  numerous.  33.  Hebrew  missions  the  genesis 
of  Christian  missions. 


13.  In  the  germinal  promise,  at  the  very  tap-root  of 
the  Hebrew  nation,  lay  the  missionary  idea,  to  be 
carried  up  through  all  its  growth :  "In  thy  seed  shall  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  In  the  gracious 
foliage  of  the  national  religion,  the  Hebrew  Hymn- 
book,  it  appears  again  and  again. 

"Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  nations  for  thine 
inheritance, 

And  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  posses- 
sion."    (Ps.  2:8.) 

13 


14  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

"I  will  make  thy  name  to  be  remembered  in  all  gen- 
erations ; 

Therefore  shall  the  peoples  give  thee  thanks  for  ever 
and  ever."     (Ps.  45:  16-17.) 

"He  shall  have  dominion  also  from  sea  to  sea, 

And  from  the  River  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth.   .   .   . 

Yea,  all  kings  shall  fall  down  before  him: 

All  nations  shall  serve  him.     .     .     . 

And  men  shall  be  blessed  in  him  ; 

All  nations  shall  call  him  happy."     (Ps.  72  :  8,  11,  17.) 

"Jehovah  hath  made  known  his  salvation : 

His  righteousness  hath  he  openly  showed  in  the  sight 

of  the  nations.     .     .     . 
All  the  ends  of  the  earth  have  seen  the  salvation  of 

our  God." 
Make  a  joyful  noise  unto  Jehovah,  all  the  earth : 
Break  forth  and  sing  for  joy,  yea  sing  praises." 

(Ps.  98:2,  3,  4.) 

14.  The  missionary  thought  of  Israel  came  to  full 
blossom  and  once,  at  least,  to  actual  fruitage  in  the 
great  preachers  of  the  nation.  "The  word  of  the  Lord 
came  unto  Jonah  the  second  time,  saying  arise,  go  unto 
Nineveh,  that  great  city,  and  preach  unto  it  the  preach- 
ing that  I  bid  thee."  The  reluctance  of  the  prophet 
to  be  sent,  to  be  a  missionary,  and  his  utter  disgust  at 
the  success  of  his  mission  in  saving  the  heathen  at 
the  behest  of  God,  whom  he  reproached  with  being 
"a  gracious  God  and  full  of  compassion,"  show  that 
even  the  well  known  purpose  of  God  could  not  yet 


THE  MESSIANIC  RACE   MISSIONARY.  1 5 

become  permanently  effective  in  his  people.  The  evan- 
gelizing of  Nineveh  was  a  sort  of  abortive,  preliminary 
fruitage,  a  foretoken  of  the  fact  that,  as  soon  as  the 
essential  reality  of  religion  should  be  sufficiently  devel- 
oped in  the  people,  it  would  bear  that  kind  of  fruit. 

This  inevitable  growth  was  stimulated  and  expressed, 
brought  to  the  stage  of  abundant  bloom,  by  the  school 
of  national  preaching  of  which  Isaiah  was  the  head. 

"For  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  Jeho- 
vah, 
As  the  waters  cover  the  sea."     (Isa.  u  :g.) 

"And  many  nations  shall  go  and  say, 

Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  Jehovah, 

And  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob ; 

And  he  will  teach  us  of  his  ways, 

And  we  will  walk  in  his  paths: 

For  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law, 

And  the  word  of  Jehovah  from  Jerusalem." 

(Micah  4:2.) 

"I  Jehovah  have  called  thee  in  righteousness, 

And  will  hold  thine  hand, 

And  will  keep  thee,  and  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of 

the  people, 
For  a  light  of  the  Gentiles."     (Isa.  42  :6.) 

"Listen,  O  isles,  unto  me ; 

And  hearken,  ye  peoples,  from  far.     .     .     . 

Tt  is  too  light  a  thing  that  thou  shotildst  be  my  servant 

To  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob, 


l6  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

And  to  restore  the  preserved  of  Israel : 
I  will  also  give  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles, 
That  thou  mayest  be  my  salvation  unto  the  end  of 
the  earth.     .     .     . 

"Lo,  these  shall  come  from  far: 
And,  lo,  these  from  the  north  and  from  the  west; 
And  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim."     (Isa.  49:  1,  6, 
12.) 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  missionary  mes- 
sages of  the  prophets. 

After  the  blossoming  period  of  the  great  poet- 
preachers  had  passed  and  the  petals  of  their  prophecies 
covered  the  ground,  it  almost  appears  as  if  the  fruit 
had  begun  to  set  as  seen  in  the  dreams  of  Daniel. 
"I  saw  in  the  night  visions,  and,  behold,  there  came 
with  the  clouds  of  heaven  one  like  unto  a  son  of  man, 
and  he  came  even  to  the  ancient  of  days,  and  they 
brought  him  near  before  him.  And  there  was  given 
him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  the 
peoples,  nations,  and  languages  should  serve  him :  his 
dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion,  which  shall  not 
pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be 
destroyed."     (Dan.  7:  13-14.) 

15.  The  growth  of  the  expectation  that  all  nations 
should  some  day  know  the  one  true  God  advanced  most 
rapidly  just  when  those  who  were  able  to  make  Him 
known  were  being  scattered  most  widely  among  the 
nations.  The  ideal  and  the  actual  developed  side  by 
side,  though  without  much  conscious  relation  to  each 
other.     But  each  development  profoundly  helped  the 


THE    MESSIANIC    RACE    MISSIONARY.  17 

other.  They  both  sprang  out  of  the  same  purpose  of 
God. 

It  is  estimated  that  350,000  Hebrews,  first  and  last, 
had  been  carried  captive  to  the  Euphrates  and  beyond. 
Fewer  than  50,000  returned.  Hence  even  if  there  had 
been  no  increase,  six  were  left  by  their  own  choice 
in  the  land  of  exile  for  every  one  who  returned.  By 
the  beginning  of  our  era  these  had  increased  to  mil- 
lions, according  to  their  own  historians.  These  East- 
ern Jews  claimed  to  be  less  mixed  in  blood  and  to  be 
stricter  in  religion  than  those  in  Palestine.  Thousands 
of  families  were  transplanted  from  Babylonia  to  Asia 
Minor  at  one  time  by  Antiochus  the  Great. 

In  Antioch  and  other  Syrian  cities  there  were  large 
numbers  of  Jews,  so  many  in  Damascus  that  10,000 
of  them  were  put  to  death  there  at  one  time. 

16.  Egypt  was  a  favorite  land  of  immigration  for  the 
people  of  Palestine.  It  was  like  going  from  the  stony 
uplands  of  New  England  to  the  fat  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Famous  migrations  were  those  made  in  the 
times  of  Abraham,  of  Joseph,  and  of  Jeremiah.  A 
remnant  of  the  last  named  migration  remained  and  was 
augmented  from  time  to  time.  At  the  time  of  the 
foundation  of  Alexandria  immigration  was  stimulated 
by  conferring  on  Jews  the  right  of  citizenship  the  same 
as  upon  the  Greeks  themselves.  Philo,  the  great  Alex- 
andrian Jew,  contemporary  of  Jesus,  tells  us  that  two 
of  the  five  quarters  of  the  city  were  Jewish  and  that 
there  were  one  million  Jews  in  Egypt,  i.  e.,  one-eighth 
of  the  whole  population. 

In  Africa,  west  of  Egypt,  Strabo  divides  the  popu- 


l8  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

lation  of  Cyrene  into  four  classes — citizens,  agricultur- 
ists, foreigners,  and  Jews.  Later  on,  in  the  time  of 
Trajan,  Cyrene  was  a  chief  center  of  Jewish  revolt. 

17.  From  the  records  of  Paul's  work  we  see  that 
Jews  were  numerous  in  Macedonia  and  Greece  as  well 
as  in  Asia  Minor.  To  Rome  itself  the  first  considerable 
Jewish  population  was  brought  after  the  conquest  of 
Jerusalem  by  Pompey,  63  B.  C.  Sixty  years  later 
8,000  Jews  resident  in  Rome  joined  a  deputation  to  the 
Emperor,  which  came  from  Palestine.  Dion  Cassius, 
writing  about  A.  D.  230,  says  of  the  Jews  in  Rome : 
'Often  suppressed,  they  nevertheless  mightily  in- 
creased, so  that  they  achieved  even  the  free  exercise  of 
their  customs." 

18.  The  kinsmen  of  Jesus,  with  the  same  basic  ideas 
of  religion  on  which  He  built,  had  been  carried  by 
captivity  and  by  commerce  throughout  the  Roman 
world  as  the  pioneer  corps  of  missionaries  of  the  one 
true  and  living  God.  Jews  were  scattered,  not  only 
through  the  Roman  world  and  its  borders  but  far  be- 
yond, even  in  India  and  China.  There  were  colonies 
of  them  on  oases  of  the  African  Sahara  to  its  uttermost 
wastes  between  Morocco  in  the  West  and  Timbuctu 
on  the  River  Niger. 

19.  The  first  sentence  of  the  first  Christian  writing 
which  has  been  preserved  dedicates  it  "to  the  twelve 
tribes  which  are  of  the  Dispersion."  Thus  the  brother  of 
Jesus,  in  this  earliest  extant  missionary  tract,  rests 
his  undertaking  on  the  same  fundamental  fact  in  which 
the  world-wide  wonders  of  Pentecost  had  been 
grounded.      "Now  there  were  dwelling  at  Jerusalem 


THE    MESSIANIC    RACE    MISSIONARY.  19 

Jews,  devout  men,  from  every  nation  under  heaven." 
These  Hebrews  were  not  mere  travelers  abroad ;  they 
were  natives  in  the  foreign  countries ;  "hear  we,  every 
man  his  own  language,  wherein  we  were  born."  They 
occupied  the  whole  circuit  of  the  civilized  world  with 
"Judea"  as  a  center.  The  North,  "Cappadocia,  Pontus. 
Asia,  Phrygia" ;  the  East,  "Parthians,  Medes,  Elamites, 
and  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia";  the  South,  "Arabians 
and  dwellers  in  Egypt";  the  West,  "dwellers  in  the 
parts  of  Libya  about  Cyrene,  Cretans  and  sojourners 
from  Rome."  Thus,  on  that  first  day  of  sufficient  heat 
for  the  germination  of  the  seed,  it  fell  into  God-made 
Hebrew  soil  which  had  been  transported  through  all 
the  known  continents,  Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe. 

20.  Philo  says  that  "in  all  the  towns  thousands  of 
houses  of  instruction  were  open,  where  discernment 
and  moderation  and  justice  and  all  virtues  generally 
were  taught."  We  know  that  Paul  found  them  in  Cor- 
inth, in  Athens,  in  Berea,  in  Thessalonica,  in  Ephesus, 
in  Iconium,  in  Antioch,  in  Pisidia,  and  sometimes  more 
than  one  in  a  city,  as  for  example,  in  Salamis  in 
Cyprus,  and  in  Damascus.  Josephus  says  that  in 
Antioch  in  Syria  there  was  one  which  was  particu- 
larly elegant  and  to  which  the  Greek  rulers  had  pre- 
sented brazen  vessels  which  had  been  carried  away 
by  Antiochus  from  the  temple  in  Jerusalem.  Early 
Jewish  epitaphs  have  been  found  in  Rome  which  men- 
tion bv  distinctive  names  seven  different  synagogues  in 
that  city.  One  of  the  synagogues  in  Egypt  was 
regarded  as  a  sort  of  second  temple  only  less  sacred 
than  the  one  in  Jerusalem.     In  Alexandria  there  were 


20  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

synagogues  with  pleasant  shade  trees  about  them,  and 
at  least  one  of  imposing  proportions  and  architecture. 

Besides  the  synagogues  there  were  regular  places  of 
meeting  for  worship  under  the  open  sky.  This  is  not 
surprising  when  we  remember  that  Greek  theaters 
were  built  without  roofs.  Paul  found  such  a  place 
of  prayer  at  Philippi.  The  synagogues  throughout  the 
empire  made  monotheism  visible,  as  it  were,  to  every 
passer-by.  They  at  least  punctuated  the  cities  with 
interrogation  points  as  to  the  possibility  of  a  religion 
without  idolatry.  When  the  time  came  they  furnished 
a  platform  on  which  Christ  could  be  proclaimed. 

21.  The  Jews  could  not  keep  their  light  under  a 
bushel.  It  was  too  unique  to  go  unnoticed.  Classic 
writers  refer  to  them  with  supreme  contempt  and  with 
a  disgust  so  deep  as  to  prove  that  Judaism  had  made 
a  real  impression  on  the  popular  mind.  The  religion 
of  the  Hebrews  called  out  more  than  passing  jibes. 
Positive  literary  attacks  were  made  by  Manetho,  Apo- 
lonius  Molon,  Lysimachus,  Chseremon,  and  Apion.  In 
meeting  these  attacks  the  defenders  of  Israel  carried  the 
war  into  the  enemies'  country  and  pointed  out  plainly 
the  weak  places  in  current  polytheism. 

Plutarch  seriously  argued  that  the  Jews'  abstinence 
from  swine's  flesh  showed  that  they  paid  divine  honors 
to  this  animal.  Juvenal  sneers  that  they  "accorded 
to  pigs  the  privilege  of  living  to  a  good  old  age,"  and 
that  "swine's  flesh  is  as  much  valued  as  that  of  man." 
He  attributed  their  Sabbath  observance  to  laziness. 
Tacitus  and  Pliny  thought  that  they  were  practically 
atheists  because  they  would  not  pay  divine  honors  to 
idols  or  to  the  Emperor. 


THE    MESSIANIC   RACE    MISSIONARY.  21 

A  Roman  historian  records  of  one  of  the  noblest 
of  Roman  Emperors  and  philosophers,  Marcus 
Aurelius,  that  as  "he  went  through  Palestine  on 
his  way  to  Egypt,  again  and  again  painfully  excited 
with  disgust  at  the  vile  and  tumultous  Jews,  he  is  said 
to  have  exclaimed  'O  Bohemians,  O  Huns,  O  Poles, 
at  length  I  have  found  people  more  uncivilized  than 
you.'  " 

The  work  of  Josephus,  "Against  Apion,"  is  preserved 
and  is  an  elaborate  defense  and  advocacy  of  Judaism. 
A  large  aim  in  the  other  writings  of  Josephus  was  to 
put  Judaism  in  a  favorable  light  before  the  Roman 
world. 

22.  Efforts  still  more  distinctly  missionary  were 
made  to  commend  the  Hebrew  religion  to  the  Gen- 
tiles. They  were  made  by  a  method  which  is  con- 
demned by  modern  standards,  but  which  was  com- 
monly used  in  ancient  times,  the  method  of  sheltering 
the  truth  advocated  under  the  authority  of  well  known 
names.  Emil  Schiirer  calls  it  "Jewish  Propaganda 
Under  a  Heathen  Mask,"  and  describes  the  advocacy 
of  Jewish  ideas  attributed  to  Hystaspes,  Hecataeus, 
Phocylides  and  in  many  "smaller  pieces."  The  most 
interesting  to  young  people  who  are  studying  the 
ancient  classics  are  verses  attributed  to  Hesiod,  Homer, 
Aeschylus,  and  Sophocles.  Perhaps  the  most  influ- 
ential at  the  time,  certainly  the  most  extensive  Jewish 
tracts  for  the  heathen,  were  the  Sibylline  Oracles. 
The  Roman  world  believed  that  Sibyls,  inspired,  half- 
mythical  women,  had  from  time  to  time  uttered  prophe- 
cies  about   morals   and   religious   worship   and   about 


22  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

unseen  ana  future  things.  Some  of  these  were  col- 
lected and  sacredly  guarded  in  Rome.  Others  were 
floating  about.  Long  before  the  time  of  Jesus,  and 
later,  Christians  (?)  composed  verses  advocating  their 
views  and  published  them  as  Sibylline  Oracles.  These 
are  freely  used  by  the  church  fathers  in  defense  of 
the  faith. 

The  testimony  of  Jesus  is  conclusive  as  to  the  mis- 
sionary activity  of  the  Jews  in  his  day.  "You  scour 
both  land  and  sea  to  make  a  single  convert."  It  was 
not  their  zeal  in  winning  converts  which  he  lamented, 
but  the  hollowness  of  religion  in  the  missionaries  them- 
selves. While  such  vigorous  efforts  at  conversion 
were  made  by  even  the  narrow  and  exclusive  Jews  of 
Palestine,  the  Hellenists  or  Grecian  Jews,  being  far 
more  open-minded  themselves,  were  more  sound- 
hearted  and  effectual  in  missionary  endeavor. 

23.  Perhaps  the  noblest  single  worker  in  bringing 
the  Hebrew  faith  to  bear  on  the  Gentile  world  was 
Philo,  known  as  Philo  the  Jew.  He  belonged  to  a 
family  of  great  wealth  and  political  influence  in  Alex- 
andria. He  was  sent,  late  in  life,  on  a  commission  to 
the  Emperor,  in  behalf  of  the  Jews.  But  his  own 
interests  were  chiefly  religious  and  philosophical.  He 
was  a  most  loyal  Israelite  and  at  the  same  time  a 
thorough-going  Greek  philosopher.  Many  of  his  works 
are  commentaries  on  the  Rible,  into  which  he  man- 
ages to  interpret  the  leading  ideas  of  Plato  and  other 
philosophers  whom  he  regarded  as  divine  men,  forming 
a  sacred  society.  A  large  group  of  his  writings  were 
especially  intended  to  commend  the  religion  of  Israel 


THE    MESSIANIC    RACE    MISSIONARY.  23 

to  Greek  minds.  One  of  his  favorite  ideas  was  that 
God  communicated  with  his  creation  through  the 
Logos,  the  Word. 

24.  In  his  work  on  Monarchy  he  describes  the  atti- 
tude of  the  ideal  ruler  toward  converts  from  false  relig- 
ions to  the  true,  with  a  breadth  of  sympathy  seldom 
surpassed   by   Christian   missionaries   themselves. 

"And  he  receives  all  persons  of  a  similar  character  and 
disposition,  whether  they  were  originally  born  so,  or  whether 
they  have  become  so  through  any  change  of  conduct,  having 
become  better  people,  and,  as  such,  entitled  to  be  ranked  in  a 
superior  class ;  approving  of  the  one  body  because  they  have 
not  defaced  their  nobility  of  birth,  and  of  the  other  because 
they  have  thought  fit  to  alter  their  lives  so  as  to  come  over 
to  nobleness  of  conduct.  And  these  last  he  calls  proselytes, 
from  the  fact  of  their  having  come  over  to  a  new  and  God- 
fearing constitution,  learning  to  disregard  the  fabulous  in- 
ventions of  other  nations,  and  clinging  to  unalloyed  truth. 

Accordingly  having  given  equal  rank  and  honor  to  those  who 
come  over,  and  having  granted  to  them  the  same  favors  that 
were  bestowed  on  the  native  Jews,  he  recommends  those  who 
are  ennobled  by  truth  not  only  to  treat  them  with  respect, 
but  even  with  especial  friendship  and  excessive  benevolence. 
And  is  not  this  a  resasonable  recommendation?  What  he 
says  is  this : 

'Those  men  who  have  left  their  country  and  their  friends, 
and  their  relations,  for  the  sake  of  virtue  and  holiness,  ought 
not  to  be  left  destitute  of  some  other  cities,  and  houses,  and 
friends,  but  there  ought  to  be  places  of  refuge  always  ready 
for  those  who  come  over  to  religion ;  for  the  most  effectual 
allurement  and  the  most  indissoluble  bond  of  affectionate 
good  will  is  the  mutual  honoring  of  the  one  God.'  More- 
over, he  also  enjoins  his  people  that,  after  they  have  given 
the  proselytes  an  equal  share  in  all  their  laws,  and  privileges 
and  immunities,  on  their  forsaking  the  pride  of  their  fathers 
and  forefathers,  they  must  not  give  a  license  to  their  jealous 
language    and    unbridled    tongues,    blaspheming   those   beings 


24  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

whom  the  other  body  looks  upon  as  gods,  lest  the  proselytes 
should  be  exasperated  at  such  treatment,  and  in  return  utter 
impious  language  against  the  true  and  holy  God;  for  from 
ignorance  of  the  difference  between  them,  and  by  reason  of 
their  having  from  their  infancy  learnt  to  look  upon  what  was 
false  as  if  it  had  been  true,  and  having  been  bred  up  with 
it,  they  would  be  likely  to  err." 

25.  These  words  of  the  greatest  Hebrew  mind  con- 
temporary with  Jesus,  along  with  other  facts  which 
form  a  part  of  missionary  history,  show  that  the  popu- 
lar notion  about  the  extreme  exclusiveness  and  unmis- 
sionary  temper  of  the  Jews  should  be  greatly  modified, 
if  not,  indeed,  reversed.  In  another  connection  Prof. 
Harnack  has  said  that  "the  Judaism  of  the  dispersion, 
in  distinction  from  the  Palestinian,  claims  to-day  our 
particular  attention,  as  we  know  that  it  was  in  many 
ways  both  the  prelude  to  Christianity  and  the  bridge 
leading  over  to  it."  Increased  comprehension  of  the 
facts  in  the  case  generally  shows  that  in  spiritual  as 
in  biological  history  the  real  break  in  continuity  is  less 
than  surface  appearance  seems  to  indicate. 

26.  The  supreme  missionary  work  of  the  Messianic 
race  before  Christ  was  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures. 
This  is  always  fundamental  in  the  pioneer  work  of 
missions.  It  was  the  chief  service  and  achievement 
of  Carey  and  of  Judson.  The  Greek-speaking  Jews  or 
Hellenists  were  most  numerous  and  influential  in  Alex- 
andria. They  needed  the  Scriptures  in  their  every-day 
language,  and  they  gradually  translated  them,  through 
a  period  of  perhaps  200  years.  The  first  portion  to  be 
completed  was  the  first  five  books.  Long  afterward 
a  legend  arose  that  the  Egyptian  King,  Ptolemy  Phila- 


THE    MESSIANIC    RACE    MISSIONARY.  25 

delphus,  sent  to  Palestine  and  obtained  seventy-two 
Elders,  six  from  each  tribe,  whom  he  entertained  roy- 
ally in  Alexandria  while  they  translated  all  the  Scrip- 
tures in  seventy-two  days.  Hence  the  common  name 
of  the  translation  is  the  Septuagint  or  the  LXX. 
They  are  said  to  have  been  housed  on  the  Island  of 
Pharos — the  famous  lighthouse  island — and  to  have 
compared  their  work  one  with  another,  all  agreeing 
upon  the  result.  But  the  translations  themselves  indi- 
cate that  they  were  made  at  different  times,  by  men  of 
decidedly  different  tastes  and  habits.  Some  are  very 
free  translations  or  paraphrases,  others  are  so 
extremely  literal  and  Hebraistic  in  style  that  they  do 
not  convey  their  meaning  clearly  in  Greek.  Still  it 
was  a  magnificent  achievement  to  put  the  Sacred 
Writings  into  the  language  of  the  whole  civilized  world. 
This  translation  took  the  place  of  the  original  Hebrew 
even  in  Palestine. 

27.  The  translators  did  two  great  missionary  serv- 
ices. First,  they  put  the  Scriptures  within  reach  of  the 
heathen  long  before  Christ.  The  tradition — in  this 
particular  reasonable — asserts  that  the  translation  was 
required  by  the  authorities  of  the  great  Alexandrian 
library.  That  the  Greek  version  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures had  missionary  uses  is  not  a  mere  Christian  fancy 
thrown  back  over  their  translation.  It  is  stated  in 
emphatic  terms  by  Philo  the  Jew.  After  describing  the 
making  of  the  Septuagint  he  gives  expression  to  the 
following  truly  Jewish  and  at  the  same  time  magnificent 
missionary  hope : 

"In  this  way  those  admirable,  and  incomparable,  and  most 
desirable  laws  were  made  known  to  all  people,  whether  pri- 


26  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

vate  individuals  or  kings,  and  this  too  at  a  period  when  the 
nation  had  not  been  prosperous  for  a  long  time.  And  it  is 
generally  the  case  that  a  cloud  is  thrown  over  the  affairs  of 
those  who  are  not  flourishing,  so  that  but  little  is  known  of 
them;  and  then,  if  they  make  any  fresh  start  and  begin  to 
improve,  how  great  is  the  increase  of  their  renown  and  glory? 
I  think  that  in  that  case  every  nation,  abandoning  all  their 
own  individual  customs,  and  utterly  disregarding  their  na- 
tional laws,  would  change  and  come  over  to  the  honor  of 
such  a  people  only ;  for  their  laws  shining  in  connection  with, 
and  simultaneously  with,  the  prosperity  of  the  nation,  will 
obscure  all  others,  just  as  the  rising  sun  obscures  the  stars." 

In  later  times,  Aquila,  himself  a  Jewish  convert  from 
heathenism,  made  a  new  translation  into  Greek. 

The  other  great  missionary  service  of  the  LXX 
was  its  use  by  Christ,  the  Apostles,  and  other  early 
Christian  missionaries.  The  translated  Scriptures 
were  the  seed-baskets  for  saving  the  world.  The 
Old  Testament  quotations  by  Christ  and  the 
Apostles  are  usually  made  from  the  LXX.  For  several 
generations  it  was  the  only  Bible  which  the  Christians 
used.  Out  of  this  version  into  Greek  translations  were 
made  into  at  least  eleven  other  tongues. 

28.  Hebrew  missions  were  not  without  fruit.  The 
religion  of  Israel  had  great  rational  and  moral  supe- 
riority, which  widely  commended  it,  whenever  its 
superficial  characteristics  could  be  overlooked  and 
superficial  prejudices  against  it  could  be  overcome. 
The  celebrated  Greek  geographer  Strabo  says  of 
Moses  that : 

"He  declared  and  taught  that  the  Egyptians  and  Africans 
entertained  erroneous  sentiments,  in  representing  the  Divinity 
under  the  likeness  of  wild  beasts  and  cattle  of  the  field;  that 


THE    MESSIANIC    RACE    MISSIONARY.  27 

the  Greeks  also  were  in  error  in  making  images  of  their 
gods  after  the  human  form.  .  .  .  Who  then  of  any 
understanding  would  venture  to  form  an  image  of  this  Deity, 
resembling  anything  with  which  we  are  conversant?  On  the 
contrary,  we  ought  not  to  carve  any  images,  but  to  set  apart 
some  sacred  ground  and  a  shrine  worthy  of  the  Deity,  and 
to  worship  Him  without  any  similitude." 

29.  The  man  who  uttered  this  dispassionate  and 
scholarly  view  of  Mosaism  did  not  himself  become  a 
Jew. 

The  most  conspicuous  converts  were  the  royal  family 
of  Adiabene,  a  small  kingdom  on  the  upper  Tigris  in 
the  region  of  ancient  Nineveh.  King  Izates,  his  mother 
Helen  and  his  brother  Monobaz  became  devout  con- 
verts to  Judaism.  Their  kindred  followed.  Helen 
made  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem  and  was  a  generous 
contributor  to  the  people  in  time  of  famine,  as  well  as 
to  the  furniture  of  the  temple.  She  and  Monobaz  had 
a  palace  in  Jerusalem.  Members  of  the  family  fought 
on  the  side  of  the  Jews  against  the  Romans.  Monobaz 
succeeded  Izates  on  the  throne  of  Adiabene,  and 
brought  the  remains  of  both  his  mother  and  brother  to 
Jerusalem  for  burial.  They  built  there  a  splendid 
family  tomb.  It  is  one  of  the  best  identified  spots  in 
the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem  today. 

30.  Multitudes  of  common  people  in  all  parts  of  the 
Roman  Empire  turned  to  the  worship  of  the  one  true 
God.  Josephus  tells  us  that  "many  of  the  Greeks  have 
been  converted  to  the  observance  of  the  laws ;  some 
have  remained  true,  while  others  who  were  incapable 
of  steadfastness  have  fallen  away  again."  "Likewise 
among  the  mass  of  the  people  there  has  been  for  a 


28  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS   OF   MISSIONS. 

long  time  a  great  amount  of  zeal  for  our  worship ;  nor 
is  there  a  single  town  among  Greeks  or  barbarians  or 
anywhere  else,  not  a  single  nation  to  which  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath  as  it  exists  among  ourselves  has 
not  penetrated ;  while  fasting  and  the  burning  of  lights 
and  many  of  our  laws  with  regard  to  meats  are  also 
observed."  We  should  be  inclined  to  count  these 
statements  among  the  exaggerations  of  Josephus,  were 
they  not  abundantly  confirmed  by  such  Gentile  authors 
as  Seneca  and  Dion  Cassius,  and  by  the  statement  of 
James  at  the  Jerusalem  conference:  "For  Moses,  for 
generations  past,  has  had  in  every  town  those  who 
preach  him,  read,  as  he  is,  in  the  synagogues  every 
Sabbath." 

31.  An  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  spread  and  in- 
creasing power  of  Judaism  among  the  Romans  is  given 
by  Juvenal  in  his  Fourteentl*  Satire.  The  evidence 
is  the  more  striking  because  it  was  written  in  bitter 
hostility  to  the  Jews.  The  whole  satire  is  a  noble  and 
trenchant  appeal  to  parents  to  avoid  evil  courses  of 
every  kind,  lest  their  children  not  only  copy  their  bad 
example  but  even  outrun  them  in  wrong-doing.  Among 
other  perils  is  the  religion  of  the  Jews.  If  the  father 
is  an  adherent,  observing  some  of  the  Jewish  customs, 
the  son  will  become  a  complete  convert,  even  to  the 
extent  of  circumcision. 

"Sprung  from  a  father  who  the  Sabbath  fears, 
There  is  who  naught  but  clouds  and  skies  reveres; 
And  shuns  the  taste,  by  old  tradition  led, 
Of  human  flesh,  and  swine's,  with  equal  dread : — 


THE    MESSIANIC    RACE    MISSIONARY.  20, 

This  first ;  the  prepuce  next  he  lays  aside, 
And,  taught  the  Roman  ritual  to  deride, 
Clings  to  the  Jewish,  and  observes  with  awe, 
All  Moses  bade,  in  his  mysterious  law : 
And  therefore,  to  the  circumcised  alone, 
Will  point  the  road,  or  make  the  fountain  known  ; 
Aping  his  bigot  sire,  who  whiled  away, 
Sacred  to  sloth,  each  seventh  revolving  day." 

This  warning  of  the  poet,  besides  showing  the  prog- 
ress which  Judaism  was  making  among  the  Romans, 
clearly  alludes  to  different  degrees  in  the  process  of 
conversion  to  Judaism  which  are  sometimes  indicated 
by  the  expressions  "Proselytes  of  the  Gate"  and  "Prose- 
lytes of  Righteousness";  or,  as  we  say  in  connection 
with  modern  missions,  "Adherents"  and  "Communi- 
cants." 

32.  While  we  have  no  statistics  for  those  times, 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  there  were  many 
thousands,  perhaps  hundreds  of  thousands,  of  Gentiles 
who  had  come  more  or  less  within  the  sphere  of  the 
worship  of  the  one  true  God.  Josephus  says  of  the 
temple  that  "it  was  held  in  reverence  by  peoples  from 
the  ends  of  the  earth."  "The  Court  of  the  Gentiles" 
was  an  important  part  of  the  sacred  enclosure  because 
many  desired  to  come  as  close  to  the  sanctuary  as  pos- 
sible. It  was  separated  from  the  inner  court  by  an 
ornate  stone  balustrade  which  had  at  intervals  signs 
in  Greek  and  Latin  warning  all  to  come  no  further, 
unless  they  were  completely  naturalized  in*  the  Jewish 
fraternity.      One  of  the  Greek  tablets  was  unearthed 


30  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

a  few  years  ago.  Thus  there  has  been  preserved  for 
nineteen  hundred  years  and  now  brought  to  light  a 
tangible  and  legible  monument,  not  only  of  the  exclu- 
siveness  of  the  Jews,  but  also  of  their  provision  for 
the  measured  approach  of  the  Gentiles  in  the  house  of 
God.  This  "middle  wall  of  partition"  was  four  feet 
high.  It  remained  for  Christianity  to  break  it  down 
completely. 

33.  The  New  Covenant  began  where  the  Old  Cov- 
enant left  off.  The  missions  which  have  sprung  from 
the  stock  of  the  Messiah  are  rooted  in  the  missions 
of  the  Messianic  Race.  The  relation  of  the  two  is  not 
only  close,  it  is  vital  and  genetic.  It  is  a  fact  not  com- 
monly considered  in  its  full  significance  that  Christian- 
ity made  its  first  effectual  connections  with  the  Gentile 
world  through  the  mission  converts  to  Judaism.  Noth- 
ing is  plainer  in  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  than 
the  magnificent  success  of  Hebrew  missions  and,  at  the 
same  time,  their  fundamental  relation  to  the  world- 
wide propagation  of  Christianity.  Not  to  mention 
narratives  in  which  there  is  strong  indirect  evidence 
that  converts  from  heathenism  to  Judaism  took  a  deci- 
sive part  in  the  early  spread  of  Christianity,  in  the  fol- 
lowing passages  it  is  directly  stated  in  unmistakable 
language.  The  common  way  of  describing  them,  as 
we  saw  in  the  language  of  Josephus,  was  to  speak  of 
them  as  those  who  take  part  in  "our  worship."  In 
selecting  The  Seven  the  disciples  at  Jerusalem  "chose 
•  .  .  Nicholas  from  Antioch,  a  former  convert  to 
Judaism."  Again,  "There  was  then  in  Csesarea  a  man 
named  Cornelius,  a  captain  in  the  regiment  known  as 


THE    MESSIANIC    RACE    MISSIONARY.  31 

the  'Italian  Regiment,'  a  religious  man  and  one  who 
reverenced  God,  as  also  did  all  his  household.      He 
was  liberal  in  his  charities  to  the  people,  and  prayed 
to  God  constantly."      Again,  "After  the  congregation 
had  broken  up,  many  of  the  Jews  and  converts  who 
joined  in  their  worship  followed  Paul  and  Barnabas," 
but  "the  Jews,  on  their  part,  roused  the  women  of 
position  who  worshiped  with  them,  and  the  leading 
men  of  the  town,  and  stirred  up  a  persecution  against 
Paul  and  Barnabas."      Again,  "Among  the  listeners 
was  a  woman  named  Lydia  belonging  to  Thyatira,  a 
dealer  in  purple  dyes,  who  joined  in  the  worship  of 
God."     Again,  "Some  of  the  people  were  convinced, 
and  threw  in  their  lot  with  Paul  and  Silas,  as  well  as 
a  large  body  of  Greeks  who  joined  in  the  Jewish  ser- 
vices, besides  a  considerable  number  of  women  belong- 
ing to  the  leading  families."     Again,  Paul  "argued  in 
the  synagogue  with  the  Jews  and  with  those  who  joined 
their  worship  there."      Again,  "he  left  and  went  to 
the  house  of  a  certain  Titus  Justus,  a  man  who  joined 
in  the  worship  of  God."     Again,  at  a  much  earlier  day, 
we  read  "some  of  us  are  visitors  from  Rome,  either 
Jews   by   birth   or   converts,    and   some    Cretans    and 
Arabians."     Thus  we  are  explicitly  told  that  converts 
from  heathenism  to  Judaism  took  a  first  place  and  a 
leading  part   in   the   early   spread   of   Christianity   in 
many  of  the  great  centers  of  its  propagation;  in  Jeru- 
salem, in  Caesarea,  in  Pisidian  Antioch,  in  Philippi,  in 
Thessalonica,  in  Athens,  in  Corinth,  in  Rome.      There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  same  was  true  else- 
where, at  least  in  all  the  cities,  certainly  so  in  Syrian 
Antioch. 


32  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

The  primary  mission  work  of  the  Messiah  was  done 
by  the  Messianic  Race.  The  law  was  a  tutor  to  lead, 
not  only  the  Hebrews,  but  also  the  heathen,  to  Christ. 
It  was  significant  of  a  world-wide  fact  that  "among 
those  who  had  come  up  to  worship  at  the  festival  were 
some  Greeks,  who  went  to  Philip  of  Bethsaida  in  Gali- 
lee, and  said :    'We  should  like,  sir,  to  see  Jesus.'  " 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  MESSIAH  MISSIONARY. 

34.  The  missionary  origin  of  Jesus,  (a)  earthly,  (b) 
heavenly.  35.  His  missionary  characteristics,  (a)  pos- 
itive, (b)  negative.  36.  His  missionary  methods,  (a) 
industrial,  (b)  itinerant,  (c)  medical.  37.  His  mis- 
sionary fields,  (a)  formalists,  (b)  the  lapsed,  (c)  non- 
Jews.  38.  His  missionary  pupils.  39.  His  great  com- 
mission.       4°»   His  dominant  ideal  missionary. 

34.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  in  every  sense  of  the  word 
a  missionary.  In  Him  the  missionary  tendencies  of  the 
Messianic  Race  culminated.  In  Him  was  a  new  begin- 
ning, a  fresh  deposit  and  source  of  missionary  energy. 
Before  Christ  the  missionary  movement  had  only  crept 
and  crawled.  It  was  in  a  larval  state.  With  Him  it 
took  wings,  it  reached  the  perfect  state.  He  was  the 
image,  the  true  and  complete  embodiment  of  the  spirit 
of  missions.  In  Him  it  became  reproductive.  He 
was  the  original  and  the  originator  of  missions. 

His  own  origin  was  missionary.  We  have  seen  to 
what  extent  it  was  so  on  its  earthly  side,  but  it  was 
pre-eminently  so  on  its  heavenly  side.  He  was  repeat- 
edly described,  especially  by  himself,  as  the  Sent — 
that  is,  the  Missionary.  If  instead  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
"sent"  we  were  to  use  a  word  of  Latin  origin  meaning 

33 


34  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

the  same,  we  should  better  gather  the  force  of  this 
favorite  thought  of  Christ  about  himself.  The  fol- 
lowing are  a  few  of  His  statements  as  rendered  in  the 
Twentieth  Century  New  Testament:  "As  the  living 
Father  made  me  His  Messenger,  and  as  I  live  because 
the  Father  does,  so  those  who  take  me  for  their  food 
will  live  because  I  do."  "For  myself  I  do  know  Him, 
for  it  is  from  Him  that  I  have  come,  and  I  am  His 
Messenger."  "  'If  God  were  your  Father,'  Jesus 
replied,  'you  would  love  me,  for  I  came  out  of  God 
Himself,  and  am  now  here ;  nor  have  I  come  of  myself, 
but  I  am  His  Messenger.'  "  "And  this  enduring  life 
is  to  know  Thee  as  the  only  true  God,  and  Thy  Mes- 
senger, Jesus,  as  the  Christ."  "Just  as  I  am  Thy 
Messenger  to  the  world,  so  they  are  my  messengers  to 
it."  "Oh,  righteous  Father,  though  the  world  did 
not  know  Thee,  I  knew  Thee ;  and  these  men  knew  me 
to  be  Thy  Messenger."  These  are  but  a  few  of  the 
many  plain  statements  to  the  same  effect.  The  primal 
name  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Word — that  is,  the  expres- 
sion, the  utterance,  the  message.  In  his  ultimate 
nature  he  was  the  going  forth  of  the  infinite  Life,  the 
making  known  of  the  divine  love,  the  proclamation 
of  the  eternal  purpose  of  good  for  humanity.  "For 
God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  Son, 
that  no  one  who  believes  in  Him  might  be  lost,  but 
that  all  might  have  enduring  life." 

35.  Jesus  was  missionary  in  the  character  of  his 
work  as  well  as  in  his  origin.  The  negative  side  of 
all  missionary  work  is  the  destruction  and  displace- 
ment of  false  and  imperfect  conceptions  of  life  and 


THE    MESSIAH     MISSIONARY.  35 

duty.  It  is  always  an  innovation.  Jesus  was  the  first 
and  greatest  of  innovators.  The  world  into  which 
he  came  was  firmly  encased  in  customs  and  traditions. 
It  was  loaded  down  with  the  accumulations  of  ages. 
His  own  Jewish  world  was  completely  enthralled  in 
traditionalism.  People  did  not  venture  to  speak  or 
act,  or  even  think,  except  along  lines  which  were  con- 
secrated by  long  use.  "Then  some  Pharisees  and 
Rabbis  came  to  Jesus  and  said :  'How  is  it  that  your 
disciples  break  the  traditions  of  our  ancestors?' 
His  reply  was :  'How  is  it  that  you  on  your  side 
break  God's  commandments  out  of  respect  for  your 
own  traditions  ?' "  He  did  not  hesitate  to  attack 
wrongs  which  were  entrenched,  not  only  in  custom, 
but  also  in  the  deepest  selfish  interests  of  men.  They 
had  turned  the  house  of  worship  into  a  market  and 
money  exchange.  At  the  very  outset  of  his  ministry 
he  unhesitatingly  overturned  these  practices.  The 
Roman  world  as  well  as  the  Jewish,  into  which  he 
came,  was  in  bondage  to  custom  and  to  the  pride  of 
precedent.  The  humble  Nazarene  promulgated  prin- 
ciples which  were  bound  to  undermine  and  break  down 
the  ponderous  rule  of  "the  kingdom  strong  as  iron." 

But  the  chief  work  of  a  missionary  is  positive  rather 
than  negative.  He  destroys  only  in  the  process  of 
clearing  the  way  for  constructive  effort.  Jesus  was  a 
missionary  in  making  known  the  true  relations  of 
God  to  men,  where,  previous  to  his  mission,  they  were 
unknown  or  but  partly  known.  God  had  been  esteemed 
as  the  almighty  Creator  and  Ruler,  the  great  Sus- 
tained the  Predestinator.     This  was  true  of  the  best 


36  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

informed  portions  of  mankind.  They  had  caught  only 
fragmentary  glimpses  of  the  reality.  They  worshiped 
refracted  and  broken  rays  of  the  Light.  In  too  many 
cases  these  rays  were  distorted  by  human  passion  and 
sin,  so  as  to  be  utterly  false  to  the  reality.  Into  such 
a  world  Jesus  effectually  brought  the  true  and  simple 
conception  of  God  as  "our  Father."  His  proclamation 
of  God  was  as  fresh  and  radical,  even  to  the  monothe- 
istic Jews,  as  that  made  by  missionaries  to  the  benighted 
in  any  age.  A  corresponding  part  of  his  missionary 
work  was  that  of  inducing  men  to  enter  into  right 
relations  with  God.  In  his  day  and  in  all  days  the 
tendency  of  man  is  to  attempt  to  reach  God  through 
many  intermediate  measures.  Jesus  insisted  that 
men  can  come,  ought  to  come,  and  are  divinely  urged 
to  come  into  direct,  immediate,  and  personal  fellow- 
ship with  the  infinite  Friend.  "A  time  is  coming,  and 
indeed  is  already  here,  when  the  true  worshipers  will 
worship  the  Father  spiritually,  with  true  insight;  for 
such  is  the  worship  that  the  Father  desires.  God  is 
Spirit ;  and  those  who  worship  Him  must  worship  spir- 
itually, with  true  insight."  His  missionary  work 
included  also  the  engendering  of  right  relations  of  men 
to  one  another.  A  new  society  was  to  be  the  outcome 
of  his  work.  Stratifications  in  caste  and  artificial  rank 
were  to  be  completely  broken  up.  All  his  followers 
were  to  become  one,  even  as  he  and  the  Father  were 
one.  He  instituted  a  hitherto  unknown  fellowship. 
Every  endeavor  to  elevate  communities  in  the  social 
scale  which  is  made  by  modern  missionary  effort  is 
a  true  following  of  the  original  Missionary. 


THE    MESSIAH    MISSIONARY.  37 

36.  The  methods  of  the  work  of  Jesus  were  mis- 
sionary. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  his  work  he  was  an  indus- 
trial missionary.  It  is  not  without  significance  that 
Jesus,  during  the  larger  part  of  his  life,  was  "the 
carpenter."  This  is  simply  mentioned  by  the  New 
Testament  writers,  but  the  instinct  of  the  followers 
of  Jesus  in  later  times  has  fastened  on  the  fact  as 
being  full  of  meaning  for  human  life.  It  is  regarded 
as  a  recent  discovery  in  education  that  manual  train- 
ing is  promotive  in  a  high  degree  of  spiritual 
results.  In  many  instances  young  people  who  have 
failed  to  be  aroused  mentally  by  any  other  means 
acquire  intellectual  zest  and  tone  through  manual  dis- 
cipline. In  many  different  ways,  ranging  from  labora- 
tory work  to  athletics,  educators  are  giving  large  and 
ever  larger  place  to  the  element  of  physical  training. 
This  most  natural  and  effective  education  Jesus 
enjoyed,  and  through  his  devotion  to  manual  pursuits 
for  so  many  years  he  has  made  it  impossible  for  any 
true  missionary  to  undervalue  the  importance  of  lead- 
ing people  into  better  industrial  ways,  and,  through  in- 
dustrial discipline,  into  higher  and  firmer  character. 

When  Jesus  entered  upon  his  more  public  career  he 
became  an  itinerant  missionary.  It  is  a  characteristic 
of  the  missionary  spirit  that  it  ever  seeks  to  enter  the 
regions  beyond.  It  is  not  satisfied,  and  can  not  be 
satisfied  with  cultivating  fields  already  long  tilled. 
Though  Jesus  tried  again  and  again  to  lift  the  Naza- 
renes  into  a  larger  life,  and  though  he  made  Caper- 
naum his  "own  city"  and  the  center  of  his  operations 


38  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

for  many  months  at  a  time,  still  he  was  always  essen- 
tially an  itinerant.  In  his  brief  ministry  he  went  back 
and  forth  many  times  between  Judea  and  Galilee.  He 
went  from  city  to  city  and  from  village  to  village  pro- 
claiming the  good  news  of  the  kingdom.  Itinerating 
was  characteristic  of  all  his  work.  "Crowds  of  people 
began  to  look  for  him;  and  when  they  came  up  with 
him  they  tried  to  detain  him  and  prevent  his  leaving 
them.  Jesus,  however,  said  to  them:  'I  must  take 
the  good  news  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  the  other 
towns  as  well,  for  this  was  the  object  for  which  I  was 
sent.'  " 

Jesus  was  a  medical  missionary.  Considering  the 
amount  of  attention  which  he  gave  to  the  healing  of 
the  body,  it  is  remarkable  that  his  followers  have  been 
so  slow  in  making  much  of  this  form  of  missionary 
work.  With  Jesus  it  was  so  conspicuous  an  element 
that  multitudes  followed  him  only  as  a  Healer  and 
flocked  to  him  because  of  this  mission  of  his.  In 
addition  to  all  the  special  cases  which  are  recorded 
we  are  told  more  than  once  that  he  healed  all  those 
who  came  to  him.  When  we  remember  that  they 
flocked  about  him  largely  on  this  account  we  see  that 
as  no  one  else  who  ever  lived  Jesus  was  a  medical  mis- 
sionary. 

37.  Jesus  was  distinctly  missionary  in  his  choice  of 
people  to  be  objects  of  special  effort.  First  of  all  he 
came  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel ;  that  is, 
to  believers  in  an  imperfect  form  of  the  true  religion. 
The  resuscitation  of  effete  religious  life,  giving  to  men 
higher  and  broader  ideals  than  they  have  cherished, 


THE    MESSIAH    MISSIONARY.  39 

is  an  essential  part  of  missionary  endeavor.  In  many 
portions  of  Europe  and  Asia  to  this  day  nothing  radical 
and  thoroughly  renovating  can  be  accomplished  until 
the  decadent  forms  of  Christianity  have  been  regen- 
erated. 

He  was  also  distinctively  missionary  in  devoting  him- 
self to  the  unprivileged  classes.  Slum  work  is 
decidedly  missionary  in  its  nature.  Jesus  devoted 
himself  to  that  work  to  such  an  extent  that  it  came 
to  be  thought  of  as  a  characteristic  of  his  life.  He 
was  known  as  "the  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners." 
"The  common  people  heard  him  gladly."  He  expressly 
announced  that  he  "came  to  seek  and  save  that  which 
was  lost." 

From  the  necessities  of  the  case  his  ministry  was 
absorbed  largely  in  work  for  the  imperfectly  religious 
and  for  the  unprivileged  classes.  But  there  are  many 
traces  of  his  devotion  to  the  widest  reaches  of  human- 
ity. It  is  significant  that  men  representing  one  of 
the  most  influential  forms  of  ethnic  faith  brought  trib- 
utes to  the  cradle  of  Jesus.  In  earliest  infancy  he 
was  carried  out  of  his  own  land,  even  to  another  con- 
tinent. He  gave  an  early  portion  of  his  public  min- 
istry to  the  half  heathen  Samaritans.  To  one  of  them 
he  made  his  first  recorded  statement  of  his  Messiah- 
ship  and  a  most  profound  and  clear  announcement  of 
true  spiritual  religion.  Toward  the  end  of  his  min- 
istry we  find  him  again  working  among  the  villages 
of  the  Samaritans.  Hateful  as  the  name  Samaritan 
was  to  every  Jew,  Jesus  made  one  of  the  most  admira- 
ble characters  which  he  ever  delineated  a  Samaritan. 


40  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

In  another  direction  he  passed  out  of  the  boundaries 
of  Palestine  into  the  neighborhood  of  Tyre  and  even 
of  more  distant  Sidon ;  there  he  performed  one  of  his 
most  gracious  and  significant  acts  of  mercy.  He 
chose  for  the  Mount  of  his  transfiguration  lofty  Her- 
mon,  on  the  extreme  borders  of  the  Holy  Land,  from 
the  summit  of  which  Damascus,  the  most  ancient  repre- 
sentative of  heathen  cities,  can  be  distinctly  seen.  In 
his  brief  and  necessarily  limited  ministry  there  are 
many  indications  of  the  widest  outreach  in  his  thoughts 
and  sympathies.  One  of  the  moments  of  most  intense 
agitation  in  his  whole  career  was  during  the  last  days, 
when  "some  Greeks"  sent  word  that  they  wished  to 
see  him.  It  was  then  that  he  said:  "Now  I  am 
troubled  at  heart  and  what  can  I  say?"  Then  there 
"came  a  voice  from  the  sky."  "The  crowd  of  bystand- 
ers who  heard  the  sound  exclaimed,  'That  was  thunder !' 
Others  said  'it  was  an  angel  speaking  to  him !'  Jesus 
said:  'This  world  is  now  on  its  trial.  The  spirit 
that  rules  it  will  now  be  driven  out;  and  I,  when  I 
am  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  to 
myself.' " 

38.  Perhaps  we  can  gain  our  highest  view  of  the  Mes- 
siah as  missionary  from  the  fact  that  he  was  the  orig- 
inator of  missions.  A  large  feature  of  his  ministry 
was  his  selection  of  a  group  of  men  in  whom  he  could 
instil  the  missionary  spirit  and  whom  he  could  train 
for  missionary  work.  The  training  of  the  Apostles 
was  undoubtedly  a  leading  aim  of  his  life.  He  selected 
them  with  great  care,  calling  them  into  closer  and 
closer  relations  with  himself,  then  kept  them  with  him, 
imbibing  his  own  spirit  and  way  of  working. 


THE    MESSIAH     MISSIONARY.  4I 

The  pupils  in  his  training  school  he  called  Apostoloi, 
that  is,  the  sent  out — in  other  words,  missionaries. 
It  is  made  as  plain  as  words  can  make  it  that  they 
were  chosen  for  this  kind  of  work.  "The  harvest 
is  heavy,"  he  said,  "but  the  laborers  are  few,  so  pray 
to  the  owner  of  the  harvest  to  send  laborers  to  do  the 
harvesting."  Then  calling  his  twelve  disciples  to  him 
Jesus  gave  them  authority  over  wicked  spirits  so  that 
they  could  drive  them  out,  as  well  as  the  power  of 
curing  every  kind  of  disease  and  sickness. 

Later  he  coupled  with  these  many  more  and  sent 
them  out  for  a  special  mission,  a  sort  of  trial  endeavor 
in  missionary  work.  "The  Master  appointed  seventy- 
two  other  disciples  and  sent  them  on,  two  and  two,  in 
advance,  to  every  town  and  place  that  he  was  himself 
intending  to  visit.  The  harvest,  he  said,  is  heavy 
but  the  laborers  are  few,  so  pray  to  the  owner  of  the 
harvest  to  send  laborers  to  do  the  harvesting.  Now, 
go."  Many  scholars  think  that  the  number  seventy, 
or,  according  to  the  best  documentary  evidence, 
seventy-two,  was  significant  in  the  missionary  direc- 
tion. This  was  commonly  thought  of  as  the  number 
of  the  heathen  nations,  the  opinion  being  based  on 
the  enumeration  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis. 

Concerning  the  extent  to  which  the  Apostles  car- 
ried out  the  meaning  of  their  title,  we  have  only 
glimpses  in  the  New  Testament  writings.  There  are 
many  traditions,  some  of  which  undoubtedly  reflect  his- 
toric facts  as  to  the  range  of  these  primitive  mission- 
aries. In  later  chapters  we  shall  have  occasion  to  notice 
some  of  the  results  of  their  work. 


42  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

The  father  of  church  history,  Eusebius,  writing 
within  two  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  the  last  of 
the  Apostles,  tells  how  they  and  those  whom  they  had 
directly  inspired  carried  the  message   far  and  wide. 

"Alongside  of  him  [Quadratus]  there  flourished  at  that 
time  many  other  successors  of  the  Apostles,  who,  admirable 
disciples  of  those  great  men,  reared  the  edifice  on  the  founda- 
tions which  they  laid,  continuing  the  work  of  preaching  the 
gospel,  and  scattering  abundantly  over  the  whole  earth  the 
wholesome  seed  of  the  heavenly  kingdom.  For  a  very  large 
number  of  His  disciples,  carried  away  by  fervent  love  of  the 
truth  which  the  divine  word  had  revealed  to  them,  fulfilled 
the  command  of  the  Saviour  to  divide  their  goods  among  the 
poor.  Then,  taking  leave  of  their  country,  they  filled  the 
office  of  evangelists,  coveting  eagerly  to  preach  Christ,  and 
to  carry  the  glad  tidings  of  God  to  those  who  had  not  yet 
heard  the  word  of  faith.  And  after  laying  the  foundations  of 
the  faith  in  some  remote  and  barbarous  countries,  establish- 
ing pastors  among  them,  and  confiding  to  them  the  care  of 
those  young  settlements,  without  stopping  longer,  they  hast- 
ened on  to  other  nations,  attended  by  the  grace  and  virtue  of 
God." 

39.  That  there  might  be  no  mistake  about  the  mis- 
sionary purpose  of  his  religion  and  the  real  culmination 
of  all  his  ministry,  Jesus  put  his  intention  in  plain 
words  before  he  finally  parted  from  his  disciples.  On  the 
mountain  in  Galilee  "Jesus  came  up  and  spoke  to  them 
thus :  All  authority  in  heaven  and  on  earth  has  been 
given  to  me.  Therefore  go  and  make  disciples  of  the 
nations."  Finally  the  last  thing  before  the  ascension, 
lest  they  forget  the  principal  word  which  he  had  to 
leave  with  them  as  the  very  essence  of  his  intention, 
he  reminded  them  as  follows :  "Scripture  says  that 
the  Christ  should  suffer  in  this  way,  and  that  he  should 


THE    MESSIAH    MISSIONARY.  43 

rise  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  and  that  repentance 
for  forgiveness  of  sins  should  be  proclaimed  on  his 
authority  to  all  the  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem. 
You  yourselves  are  to  be  witnesses  to  all  this." 

40.  More  significant  than  any  single  detail  in  the  mis- 
sionary history  and  the  institution  of  missions  by  Jesus 
is  the,  ideal  which  he  created  concerning  the  extent 
and  the  all-inclusive  purposes  of  the  gospel.  If  he 
personally  had  not  said  or  done  anything  which  could 
be  called  specifically  missionary,  still  the  expansive 
conceptions  which  he  gave  to  his  followers  must  sooner 
or  later  have  come  to  birth  in  missionary  activity.  It 
was  clear  that  his  work  was  not  for  Palestine  alone 
and  not  for  Israel  alone.  It  was  for  all  mankind. 
"The  world"  was  a  frequent  and  significant  phrase  in 
the  original  gospel.  The  central  thought  in  many  of 
his  parables  was  the  thought  of  growth.  The  King- 
dom of  Heaven  was  almost  always  said  to  be  like 
growing  things.  It  was  like  grain  developing  into  a 
harvest.  It  was  like  seed  growing  into  a  tree.  It 
was  like  the  yeast  plant  propagating  itself  until  the 
whole  mass  should  be  filled  with  its  life. 

By  the  parable  of  the  wicked  tenants  he  drew  from 
their  own  lips  the  verdict  of  the  leaders  of  the  Jewish 
nation  that  the  Owner  should  "let  the  vineyard  to  other 
tenants."  That  there  might  be  no  mistake  in  under- 
standing the  teaching  as  meaning  the  extension  of 
religious  opportunity  to  the  non-Jewish  world,  he 
added,  "for  this  reason  the  Kingdom  of  God,  I  tell 
you,  will  be  taken  from  you,  and  given  to  a  nation  that 
does  produce  the  fruit  of  the  Kingdom."     This  teach- 


44  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

ing  he  at  once  pressed  further  by  a  parable  of  the  mar- 
riage feast,  with  its  unmistakable  declaration  of  a 
gospel  invitation  for  every  soul  in  the  outside,  heathen 
world.  "Then  he  said  to  his  servants,  'The  feast  is 
ready,  but  those  who  were  invited  were  not  fit  to  come. 
So  go  to  the  cross-roads,  and  invite  to  the  feast  every 
one  you  find."  On  his  final  journey  toward  Jerusalem 
he  had  spoken  the  dinner  parable  of  invitation  to  the 
unprivileged  classes.  Arrived  at  the  national  capital 
itself,  in  the  last  solemn  week,  he  spoke  this  other 
dinner  parable  of  the  invitation  to  the  unprivileged 
nations : 

"When  you  give  a  lunch  or  a  dinner,  do  not  ask 
your  friends,  or  your  brothers,  or  your  relations,  or 
rich  neighbors,  for  fear  they  should  invite  you  in  return, 
and  so  you  should  be  repaid.  Instead  of  that,  when 
you  give  a  party,  invite  the  poor,  or  the  crippled,  or  the 
lame,  or  the  blind."  Thus  he  illuminated  his  teaching  by 
the  parable  of  the  dinner  invitation,  which  he  carried 
beyond  the  select  social  circle,  to  those  who  lived  in  the 
streets  and  alleys  of  the  town  and,  further  afield  still,  to 
the  people  of  the  country  roads  and  lanes.  No  wonder 
that  soon  after,  "the  tax-gatherers  and  godless  people 
were  all  drawing  near  to  Jesus  to  listen  to  him ;  but 
the  Pharisees  and  Rabbis  found  fault ;  'this  man  actu- 
ally welcomes  godless  people,  and  has  meals  with 
them !'  they  complained."  This  is  what  called  out  that 
matchless  missionary  chapter  about  the  stray  sheep,  the 
lost  coin  and  the  prodigal  son. 

On  a  much  later  occasion  after  another  parable 
about  two  sons  which  he  addressed  to  "the  chief  priests 


THE    MESSIAH    MISSIONARY.  45 

and  counsellors  of  the  nation,"  he  spoke  words  which 
a  most  ardent  worker  for  the  "submerged  tenth"  could 
not  surpass  in  intensity  if  he  were  arraigning  the  privi- 
leged "four  hundred"  of  today,  "Believe  me,  tax-gath- 
erers and  prostitutes  are  going  into  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  before  you." 

The  conception  of  the  worth  of  man  which  Jesus 
introduced,  the  worth  of  every  man,  every  woman  and 
every  child,  was  such  that  those  who  receive  it  are 
bound  to  strive  for  the  betterment  of  every  human 
being.  When  we  realize  that  God  is  the  Father  of 
us  all  and  we  are  brothers,  it  is  impossible  to  be  con- 
tented with  our  own  individual  safety  and  comfort  and 
prospect  in  life  without  care  for  the  other  children  of 
the  same  infinite  love.  It  is  not  only  by  splendid  exam- 
ple and  by  formal  command,  but  also  and  still  more  by 
the  very  essence  and  innermost  spirit  of  Christ,  that 
Christians  must  be  missionaries. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SYRIA. 

41.  Inspiration.  42.  Inauguration.  43.  Only  out- 
lines recorded.  44.  City  missions,  (a)  medical,  (b) 
beneficent,  (c)  social,  (d)  incisive,  (e)  providential,  (f) 
institutional,  (g)  sacrificial,  (h)  fruitful.  45.  Home 
missions.  46.  Samaria.  47.  The     African.  48. 

Damascus  and  Paul.  49.  Phoenicia.  50.  Antioch. 
(a)  beginnings,  (b)  development,  (c)  base  of  foreign  mis- 
sions. 51.  One  missionary  in  the  days  of  the  crusades. 
52.  Permanent  results  of  the  original  missionary  work  in 
Syria. 

41.  The  missionary  movement  had  been  grop- 
ing onward  through  the  centuries.  During  the  last 
quarter  of  a  millennium  it  had  acquired  consid- 
erable distinctness.  Jesus  came  and  gave  it  glowing 
features,  with  a  heart-beat.  He  put  into  it  the  breath 
of  life.    He  inspired  missions. 

When  the  spirit  of  Jesus  became  the  actual  inspira- 
tion of  his  followers,  they  were  "invested  with  power 
from  above,"  as  he  had  promised.  The  Spirit  of  the 
Master,  the  Breath  of  God  among  the  disciples,  was  all 
at  once  luminous,  vocal  and  wide-reaching.  It  is  best 
not  to  attempt  to  elaborate  or  even  to  paraphrase  the 
story  of  the  final  inspiration  of  missions.  The  story 
itself  is  inspired. 

"In  the  course  of  the  Harvest  Thanksgiving-day  the  dis- 
ciples had  all  met  together,  when  a  noise  like  that  of  a  strong 

46 


SYRIA.  47 

wind  coming  nearer  and  nearer  suddenly  came  from  the  sky, 
and  filled  the  whole  house  in  which  they  were  sitting.  Then 
they  saw  tongues  of  what  appeared  to  be  flame,  separating, 
so  that  one  settled  on  each  of  them;  and  they  were  all  filled 
with  the  holy  Spirit,  and  began  to  speak  with  strange  'tongues' 
as  the  Spirit  prompted  their  utterances. 

There  were  then  staying  in  Jerusalem  religious  Jews  from 
every  country  in  the  world ;  and  when  this  sound  was  heard, 
numbers  of  people  collected,  in  the  greatest  excitement  because 
each  of  them  heard  the  disciples  speaking  in  his  own  language. 
They  were  utterly  amazed,  and  kept  saying  in  their  astonish- 
ment : 

'Why,  are  not  all  these  Galileans  who  are  speaking! 
How  is  it  that  we  each  of  us  hear  them  in  our  own  native 
language?  Some  of  us  are  Parthians,  some  Medes,  some 
Elamites;  and  some  of  us  live  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Judea  and 
Cappadocia,  in  Pontus  and  Roman  Asia,  in  Phrygia  and  Pam- 
phylia,  in  Egypt  and  the  districts  of  Libya  adjoining  Cyrene; 
some  of  us  are  visitors  from  Rome,  either  Jews  by  birth  or 
converts,  and  some  Cretans  and  Arabians — yet  we  all  alike 
hear  them  speaking  in  our  tongues  of  the  great  things  God 
has  done.'     Everyone  was  utterly  amazed  and  bewildered." 

42.  "The  Great  Commission"  is  the  mission  of  Jesus 
expressed  in  words.  Missions  are  the  mission  of  Jesus 
expressed  in  lives.  In  proportion  as  the  Breath  of  the 
Master  breathes  in  his  people,  they  are  missionaries  at 
heart  and  missionaries  in  deed.  Men  without  God,  tin- 
philanthropic  men,  look  upon  missions  as  the  outcome 
of  fatuous  feeling.  Men  who  recognize  God  as  the  Liv- 
ing Reality  for  all  men  and  all  times  see  that  missions 
are  inevitable,  God  must  be  proclaimed  abroad.  "Men 
of  Judea,"  said  Peter,  "and  all  you  who  are  staying  in 
Jerusalem,  let  me  tell  you  what  this  means,  and  mark 
my  words.  You  are  wrong  in  thinking  that  these  men 
are  drunk;  indeed  it  is  only  nine  in  the  morning!  No! 
This  is  what  was  spoken  of  in  the  Prophet  Joel — 


48  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

"  'It  shall  come  about'  in  the  last  days,  God  said, 
'That  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  on  all  mankind.'  " 
It  was  a  typical  day,  that  "Harvest  Thanksgiving- 
day."  Fifteen  countries  heard  the  gospel,  all  the  an- 
cient classic  world  stretching  from  the  Tigris  to  the 
Tiber.  No  wonder  that  they  were  "in  the  greatest  ex- 
citement because  each  of  them  heard  the  disciples  speak- 
ing in  his  own  language."  The  stars  had  never  looked 
on  such  a  sight  before.  It  was  the  dawn  of  a  new  day 
on  the  planet  earth.  A  Christianizing  force  of  three 
thousand  was  created  at  once.  How  many  of  them  be- 
longed abroad,  and  so  returned  with  the  gospel  story  to 
every  country  in  the  world,  we  are  not  told. 

43.  We  are  reminded  at  the  outset  that  the  bulk  of 
the  missionary  history  of  the  world  has  never  been 
recorded  with  paper  and  ink.  Its  record  was  only  in 
melting  hearts  and  in  the  transformation  of  lives  and  of 
society.  The  outcome  abides  in  an  uplifted  human  race. 
But  materials  for  reproducing  the  story  of  the  process 
do  not  exist,  except  in  scanty  and  scattered  fragments. 
As  we  look  along  the  ages  we  can  catch  only  glimpses 
like  bits  of  landscape  from  a  car  window.  The  educa- 
tional value  of  the  journey  will  depend  largely  on  the 
student's  power  of  realizing  to  himself  the  fact  that  a 
great  country  lies  beyond  the  range  of  his  vision,  a 
country  of  field  and  forest,  of  mountain  and  stream, 
of  lonely  stretches  or  of  teeming  centers  of  life. 

The  earliest  record  follows  the  normal  order  of  de- 
velopment, which  had  been  the  order  of  promise. 
"When  the  holy  Spirit  has  come  upon  you,  you  shall 
be  witnesses  for  me  not  only  in  Jerusalem,  but  in  the 


SYRIA.  49 

whole  of  Judea  and  Samaria,  and  to  the  very  ends  of 
the  earth."  There  came  first  five  or  six  years  of  city 
missions,  then  ten  or  twelve  years  of  home  missions.  It 
was  about  sixteen  years  before  foreign  missions  were 
definitely  undertaken. 

44.  All  the  record  that  is  left  of  the  five  eventful 
years  of  the  city  mission  period  is  contained  in  five  chap- 
ters of  Acts  (2 :43-8  :i ) .  It  begins  by  telling  us  that  "a 
deep  impression  was  made  upon  every  one"  by  the 
events  of  Harvest  Day  and  the  work  which  followed. 
Some  of  the  features  which  accompanied  their  work 
were  typical  of  those  which  have  pertained  to  city  mis- 
sion work  ever  since. 

The  first  thing  mentioned  is  that  they  gave  large  at- 
tention to  ministry  for  the  suffering  and  diseased.  Cur- 
ing the  sick,  the  lame  and  the  blind  formed  a  consider- 
able portion  of  their  work.  The  same  thing  with  dif- 
ferent facilities  for  accomplishing  the  end  is  under- 
taken now  through  visiting  nurses,  dispensaries  and 
hospitals.  A  city  mission  work  which  fails  to  follow  the 
apostolic  lead  falls  short  of  one  of  its  best  means  of 
grace. 

The  work  was  characterized  by  great  generosity  in 
giving.  No  vigorous  work  in  cities  can  be  performed 
without  large  outlay  of  money.  They  carried  it  to  the 
extent  of  Christian  socialism.  Whatever  the  name  or 
precise  methods  used,  the  efficient  work  requires  liberal 
sharing  of  earthly  goods.  "Not  one  of  them  claimed 
any  of  his  belongings  as  his  own,  but  everything  was 
held  for  common  use."  "Indeed  there  was  no  poverty 
among  them,  for  all  who  were  owners  of  lands  or 


50  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

houses  sold  them,  and  brought  the  proceeds  of  the  sales 
and  laid  them  at  the  Apostles'  feet ;  when  every  one  re- 
ceived a  share  in  proportion  to  his  needs."  One  of  the 
disciples  gave  a  telling  example  for  all  time  of  Christian 
brotherhood.  "A  Levite  of  Cyprian  birth,  named  Joseph 
(who  had  received  from  the  Apostles  the  additional 
name  of  'Barnabas' — which  means  'The  Preacher')  sold 
a  farm  that  belonged  to  him,  and  brought  the  money 
and  laid  it  at  the  Apostles'  feet."  To  meet  the  needs  of 
life  and  growth  religious  worship  and  fellowship  must 
be  frequent ;  preaching  once  a  month  or  even  twice  a 
week  cannot  compete  with  other  absorbing  interests  of 
the  people.  "Every  day,  too,  they  met  regularly  in  the 
Temple  Courts  and  at  their  homes  for  the  breaking  of 
bread." 

They  had  a  joyous  social  life.  Solemn  formalities 
without  sincere,  hearty,  good  fellowship  must  always 
fail  to  reach  the  hearts  and  lives  of  people.  They  par- 
take "of  their  food  in  simple-hearted  gladness,  contin- 
ually praising  God."  Such  a  life  and  ministry  gave  the 
Christians  great  and  desirable  influence  in  the  commun- 
ity. They  are  recorded  as  "winning  respect  from  all  the 
people."  As  a  result  there  was  a  constant  ingathering, 
"and  the  Lord  daily  added  to  their  company  those  who 
were  in  the  path  of  salvation." 

Practical  and  pointed  preaching  was  one  of  the  lead- 
ing features  of  this  city  mission  work.  There  was  no 
dwelling  on  pleasant  platitudes.  The  Apostles  gave 
their  testimony  to  the  work  of  Christ  and  to  the  sins 
of  his  murderers  without  fear  or  favor.  Such  plain  and 
thorough-going  missionary  work,  attacking  the  evils  of 


SYRIA.  51 

people  high  in  social  standing,  was  bound  to  bring  upon 
the  missionaries  intense  dislike  and  officious  interfer- 
ence. Again  and  again  they  were  arrested,  prohibited 
from  preaching,  flogged  and  imprisoned.  Still  the  work 
went  on  and  accumulated  momentum. 

Always  in  city  mission  work  people  ally  themselves 
to  the  movement  who  are  not  sincere.  The  false  pro- 
fessions of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  in  one  form  or  an- 
other reappear  in  every  age.  On  the  other  hand  such 
work  is  sure  to  be  helped  and  guided  by  surprising 
providences.  More  than  once  the  enterprise  escaped 
destruction  when  no  way  of  escape  appeared  to  be  pos- 
sible. As  missionary  work  in  a  city  increases  in  breadth 
a  multitude  of  details  must  be  kept  well  in  hand.  There 
is  no  way  to  do  this  without  a  careful  organization, 
hence  the  "institutional  church."  The  necessity  for  this 
was  early  seen.  One  of  the  first  steps  in  this  direction 
was  taken  in  the  choice  of  the  seven  almoners  of  the 
churches'  bounty. 

At  length  the  Christian  movement  gained  such  head- 
way that  its  general  public  discussion  was  involved. 
Both  natives  and  foreigners  took  part  in  the  general 
debate,  "but  some  members  from  the  Synagogue  known 
as  that  of  the  Freed  Slaves  and  the  Cyrenians  and  the 
Alexandrians,  as  well  as  visitors  from  Cilicia  and 
Roman  Asia,  were  aroused  to  action  and  began  disput- 
ing with  Stephen.  The  five  years  under  considera- 
tion ended  with  the  first  missionary  martyrdom  of  a 
long  succession  through  the  ages  down  to  the  present 
day.  Earnest  city  mission  work  has  taken  the  life  of 
many  a  man  and  woman  devoted  to  it  by  processes  in- 


52  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

evitable,  and  yet  so  slow  that  they  are  never  thought 
of  as  being  martyrs  to  the  cause. 

We  have  no  means  of  knowing  how  many  people 
turned  to  Christ  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem  during  that 
five  years.  We  only  know  that  early  in  the  time  "the 
number  of  the  men  alone  amounted  to  some  five  thou- 
sand." Doubtless  there  were  as  many  women  as  men. 
If  anything  like  the  modern  proportions  prevailed, 
there  must  have  been  some  fifteen  thousand  disciples 
in  all  that  time.  It  may  be  that  by  the  end  of  the  period 
twenty-five  thousand  people  or  more  had  given  some 
sort  of  allegiance  to  the  new  faith. 

45.  The  home  mission  period  of  Syrian  Missions, 
though  more  than  twice  as  long  as  the  city  mission 
period  and  though  covering  an  area  vastly  wider,  is  re- 
corded in  the  same  number  of  chapters  of  Acts  (8-12). 
It  is  obvious  that  only  typical  features  are  given. 

Home  missions  are  true  missions,  divine  sendings.  It 
was  not  by  their  own  motion  that  the  disciples  left  Jeru- 
salem in  order  to  work  in  wider  fields.  God  had  to  drive 
them  out  with  a  sword.  "A  great  persecution  broke  out 
against  the  church  which  was  in  Jerusalem ;  and  its 
members  were  all  scattered  over  the  districts  of  Judea 
and  Samaria,  with  the  exception  of  the  Apostles,  and 
those  who  were  scattered  in  different  directions  went 
from  place  to  place,  with  the  Good  News  of  the  Mes- 
sage." 

46.  The  first  special  work  noted  is  work  for  a  for- 
eign population.  Samaria  had  been  settled  by  immigra- 
tion many  generations  before  this.  But  the  population 
had  never  become  fully  assimilated  to  the  religion  of  the 


SYRIA.  53 

land  of  Israel.  Eight  years  before  the  mission  of  Philip 
Jesus  himself  had  spent  two  busy  days  in  Samaria  and 
"many  from  that  town  came  to  believe  in  Jesus — Sa- 
maritans though  they  were — on  account  of  what  the 
woman  said.  And  many  more  came  to  believe  in  him 
on  account  of  what  he  said  himself."  Whether  any 
permanent  results  of  this  work  were  found  by  Philip  or 
not  we  do  not  know,  but  the  gospel  as  he  proclaimed  it 
obtained  a  ready  entrance  into  many  hearts.  The  Sa- 
maritans evidently  were  given  to  superstition.  A  char- 
latan of  the  first  magnitude  held  strong  sway  among 
them.  The  work  of  the  missionaries  came  to  a  sharp 
crisis  in  connection  with  him.  The  record  is  intense  and 
vivid  to  the  last  degree.  "When  Simon  saw  that  it  was 
through  the  placing  of  the  Apostles'  hands  on  them  that 
the  Spirit  was  given,  he  brought  them  a  sum  of  money, 
with  the  request :  'Give  me,  too,  the  power  you  possess, 
so  that,  if  I  place  my  hands  upon  any  one,  he  may  re- 
ceive the  holy  Spirit.'  'Take  your  money  to  perdition 
with  you !'  Peter  exclaimed,  'for  thinking  God's  free 
gift  could  be  bought  with  gold !  You  have  no  share  or 
part  in  our  Message,  for  your  heart  is  not  right  with 
God.  So  repent  of  this  wickedness  of  yours,  and  pray 
to  the  Lord,  that,  if  possible,  you  may  be  forgiven  for 
such  a  thought ;  for  I  see  that  you  have  fallen  into  bitter 
jealousy  and  are  in  bondage  to  iniquity.' ': 

47.  The  next  work  was  with  a  foreigner,  though 
possibly  of  Hebrew  extraction,  a  man  from  another 
continent  and  possibly  of  another  color.  It  was  home 
mission  work  for  an  African.  It  belongs  to  the  mis- 
sionary  history   of   that   continent,   but    it   is   also   a 


54  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

typical  example  of  the   wide-reaching  importance  of 
wayside  opportunities  in  home  missions. 

48.  In  the  home  mission  field  lay  Damascus,  counted 
the  most  ancient  city  in  the  world.  It  was  evangelized 
to  some  extent,  we  know  not  how,  in  the  earliest  days 
of  Christianity.  There  were  so  many  followers  of  the 
Nazarene  there  that  Saul  the  persecutor  went  thither 
to  make  arrests.  His  conversion  is  an  eminent  example 
of  the  principle  that  the  supply  of  missionaries  for  the 
work  abroad  always  depends  on  the  cultivation  of  the 
home  field.  The  lofty  life  and  death  of  Stephen  and 
the  heroic  character  and  bearing  of  hundreds  of  other 
Christians  who  endured  hardships  as  seeing  Him  who 
is  invisible  were  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  breaking 
down  at  last  the  stubborn  will  of  the  man  who  was 
to  become  the  pre-eminent  missionary  to  the  heathen. 

"'Saul,  Saul,  why  are  you  persecuting  me?  You  are  pun- 
ishing yourself  by  kicking  against  the  goad.'  'Who  are  you, 
my  Lord?"  I  asked.  'I  am  Jesus,  whom  you  are  persecuting,' 
the  Master  said ;  'but  get  up ;  stand  upright,  for  I  have  ap- 
peared to  you  for  the  express  purpose  of  appointing  you  to 
work  for  me,  and  to  bear  witness  to  the  revelations  of  me 
which  you  have  already  seen,  and  to  those  in  which  I  shall 
yet  appear  to  you,  when  delivering  you  from  your  own  people 
and  from  the  heathen.  It  is  to  them  that  I  am  now  sending 
you,  to  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to 
light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  to  God,  so  that  they  may 
receive  pardon  for  their  sins,  and  a  place  among  those  who 
have  become  God's  people,  by  faith  in  me.' " 

Under  this  commission  Saul  did  some  work  immedi- 
ately in  Damascus. 

49.  The  Apostles  themselves  did  not  remain  all  the 
time  in  Jerusalem,  but  took  an  active  part  in  the  home- 
land missions.  "While  traveling  about  in  all  directions, 


SYRIA.  55 

Peter  went  down  to  visit  the  people  of  Christ  living  at 
Lydda."  We  see  him  going  from  Lydda  to  Joppa  and 
from  Joppa  to  Cassarea.  At  Csesarea  he  did  a  mission 
work  of  the  highest  significance.  "There  was  then  in 
Csesarea  a  man  named  Cornelius,  a  captain  in  the  regi- 
ment known  as  the  'Italian  Regiment,'  a  religious  man 
and  one  who  reverenced  God,  as  also  did  all  his  house- 
hold." 

Here  Christianity  laid  hold  of  one  who  had  already 
been  converted  from  heathenism  to  Judaism.  He  was 
one  of  the  noble  examples  of  the  results  of  Hebrew 
missions.  "He  was  liberal  in  his  charities  to  the  people, 
and  prayed  to  God  constantly."  The  turning  of  this 
man  to  the  Christian  faith  was  widely  recognized  at  the 
time  as  being  a  marked  event. 

"The  Apostles  and  the  Brethren  throughout  Judea  heard 
that  even  the  heathen  had  welcomed  God's  Message.  But 
when  Peter  went  up  to  Jerusalem  those  converts  who  held 
to  circumcision  began  attacking  him  on  the  ground  that  he 
had  visited  people  who  were  not  circumcised,  and  had  had 
meals  with  them.  So  Peter  began  and  explained  the  facts 
to  them  as  they  had  occurred."  Later,  "the  Apostles  and  Offi- 
cers of  the  Church  held  a  meeting  to  look  into  this  question. 
After  a  good  deal  of  discussion  Peter  rose  and  said:  'You, 
my  brothers,  know  well  how  God  chose  long  ago  that,  of  all 
of  us,  I  should  be  the  one  by  whose  lips  the  heathen  should 
hear  the  Message  of  the  Good  News  and  believe  it.'  " 

On  the  first  occasion  Peter's  explanation  ended, 
"  'as  then,  God  had  given  them  the  very  same  gift  as  he  gave  us 
when  we  learnt  to  believe  in  the  Master,  Jesus  Christ — who  was 
I  that  I  should  be  able  to  thwart  God?'  On  hearing  this  state- 
ment, they  ceased  to  object,  and  broke  out  into  praise  of 
God.  'So  even  to  the  heathen,'  they  said,  'God  has  granted 
the  repentance  which  leads  to  Life !'  " 

The    conversion    of    Cornelius    had    great    signifi- 


56  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

cance  from  a  missionary  point  of  view  because  he  was  a 
Roman  soldier.  In  the  succeeding  centuries  the  army 
had  much  to  do  with  the  spread  of  Christianity. 

50.  The  culmination  of  this  period  of  home 
mission  work  was  the  establishment  of  Christi- 
anity in  Antioch,  the  capital  of  the  country.  The 
city  was  important  in  itself.  Here  we  find  mis- 
sionary work  succeeding  on  a  large  scale.  The 
extremely  brief  record  of  Luke  includes  the 
statement  that  "a  large  number  of  people  joined  the 
Master's  cause."  His  account  of  what  took  place  there 
shows  that  it  soon  became  a  great  center  of  Christian 
life.  It  was  the  third  city  in  importance  in  the  Empire. 
Its  principal  street  extended  five  miles  and  was  lined 
with  splendid  temples,  dwellings  and  places  of  business. 
Two  miles  of  the  way  it  was  paved  with  marble. 

Christianity  had  obtained  such  headway  in  Antioch 
by  the  year  115  that  the  Emperor  Trajan  visiting  there 
was  advised  to  seek  its  overthrow  by  disposing  of  its 
leader,  Ignatius,   which  he  did. 

Ignatius  was  given  in  charge  to  ten  soldiers,  "ten 
leopards,"  as  he  terms  them  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, and  was  ordered  to  be  taken  to  Rome  to  be  de- 
voured by  beasts  for  the  diversion  of  the  people. 

It  is  a  long  time  before  we  have  other  distinct 
accounts  of  Christianity  in  Antioch.  According  to 
Dr.  James  Orr. 

"When  it  [The  Church  of  Antioch]  does  become  distinctly 
visible  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  it  is  as  a  seat  of  ec- 
clesiastical influence  of  the  first  rank.  The  extraordinary 
splendor  of  its  episcopate,  and  elaboration  of  its  church  ser- 
vice, under  the  notorious  Paul  of  Samosata;   its   influential 


SYRIA.  57 

councils  and  important  theological  school;  the  magnificent 
Golden  Church  reared  later  by  the  liberality  of  Constantine; 
its  prominence  in  the  Arian  controversies ;  the  utter  failure  of 
Julian's  attempt  to  restore  Paganism  in  it — readers  of  Church 
History  will  remember  his  chagrin  when,  having  gone  to  cele- 
brate with  all  pomp  the  festival  of  Apollo  at  the  Temple  of 
Daphne,  he  found  only  a  single  old  priest,  sacrificing  a  goose 
at  his  own  expense ;  the  flourishing  state  of  the  church,  nu- 
merically, at  least,  under  Chrysostom — all  this  shows  that, 
even  before  the  change  of  the  political  relations,  Christianity 
must  have  been  practically  in  the  ascendant  in  the  city. 
We  have  the  express  testimony  of  Chrysostom 
that  in  his  day,  before  the  year  400,  the  Christians  were  a  ma- 
jority in  the  city;  and  this  is  borne  out  by  the  separate  figures 
he  gives,  showing  the  population  to  have  been  200,000,  and 
the  number  of  the  Christian  community  about  100,000." 

In  addition  to  its  importance  in  itself,  the  capital 
of  Syria  was  of  the  utmost  importance  as  becoming  the 
first    great    base    of    operations    in    foreign    missions. 

"There  were  at  Antioch,  among  the  members  of  the  Church 
there,  some  Prophets  and  Teachers.  Their  names  were  Bar- 
nabas, Simeon,  who  went  by  the  name  of  'Black,'  Lucius  of 
Cyrene,  Manaen,  foster-brother  of  Prince  Herod,  and  while 
they  were  worshiping  the  Lord  and  fasting,  the  holy  Spirit 
said :  'Set  Barnabas  and  Saul  apart  for  me,  for  the  work  to 
which  I  have  called  them.'  Accordingly,  after  fasting  and 
prayer,  they  placed  their  hands  on  them  and  sent  them  on 
their  way.  "So  Barnabas  and  Saul,  sent  on  this  mission  by 
the  holy  Spirit,  went  down  to  Seleucia,  and  sailed  from  there 
to  Cyprus.  On  reaching  Salamis,  they  began  to  tell  God's 
Message  in  the  Jewish  Synagogues;  and  they  also  had  John 
with  them  to  help  them." 

When  these  first  foreign  missionaries  returned  they 
brought  reports  to  the  home  church  of  their  three  years' 
mission  abroad.  "After  their  arrival,  they  gathered  the 
church  together,  and  gave  an  account  of  all  that  God 


58  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

had  done  with  and  through  them,  especially  how  he 
had  opened  to  the  heathen  a  door  to  the  Faith ;  and  at 
Antioch  they  stayed  with  the  disciples  for  a  long  time." 
Among  the  most  useful  and  distinguished  Christians 
of  the  early  centuries  were  natives  of  Syria.  Not  only 
Ignatius  but  Justin  the  Martyr,  and  Eusebius  and 
Sozomen,  the  early  church  historians,  were  Syrians. 
Jerome,  the  father  of  biblical  scholarship,  did  a  large 
part  of  his  work  in  Bethlehem. 

51.  In  later  centuries  Christian  Europe  poured  itself 
like  a  mighty  flood  through  Syria  in  the  name  of  the 
cross.  The  land  came  to  be  ruled  under  that  sacred 
sign ;  but  the  Crusades  cannot  be  counted  as  missionary 
enterprises  in  any  true  sense. 

Syria,  however,  was  the  first  foreign  field  of  Francis 
of  Assisi,  one  of  the  noblest  missionaries  that  the  world 
has  known.  He  set  on  foot  a  movement  which  has  sent 
thousands  of  missionaries  into  all  parts  of  the  world. 
We  shall  meet  the  Franciscans  again  and  again  in  Asia 
and  Africa  and  America.  It  is  interesting  to  remember 
that  in  1223  the  founder  of  their  order  went  on  a  mis- 
sion to  the  home  land  of  the  Saviour.  Lovers  of  mis- 
sions will  enjoy  reading  the  Life  of  Francis,  by  Sab- 
atier,  a  Protestant,  and  a  thoroughly  appreciative  as 
well  as  critical  biographer. 

52.  The  original  missionary  work  in  Syria  so  estab- 
lished Christianity  in  that  land  of  its  birth  that  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  changing  empire,  and  even  of  Moham- 
medan conquest  and  re-conquest,  have  never  effaced 
the  Christian  faith.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Syrians 
still  bow  the  knee  to  Christ. 


CHAPTER   V. 

ASIA  MINOR. 

53.  Cyprus.  54.  Paul  and  Sergius  Paulus.  55.  The 
visit  to  Galatia.  56.  The  effect  of  the  first  recorded 
missionary  sermon.  57.  Iconium,  Lystra  and  Derbe. 
58.  The  return  of  the  missionaries.  59.  The  second  and 
third  missionary  journeys  in  Southern  Asia  Minor.  60. 
Ephesus  and  Western  Asia  Minor.  61.  Apollos  and 
Priscilla  and  Aquila  in  Ephesus.  62.  Paul's  wide- 
reaching  work  in  Ephesus.  63.  Two  other  apostles. 
64. .Great  success  in  Northern  Asia  Minor  according  to 
Pliny.        65.    Gregory    in    New    Caesarea.  66.    Justin 

Martyr. 

53.  The  island  of  Cyprus  is  one  of  the  natural  step- 
ping stones  between  the  East  and  the  West.  England 
in  our  own  day  deems  it  worth  while  to  hold  portions 
of  it  as  essential  to  her  highway  between  Asia  and 
Europe.  It  was  one  of  the  earliest  points  touched 
by  Christianity  outside  of  Syria.  Some  of  "those  who 
had  been  scattered  in  different  directions  in  conse- 
quence of  the  persecution  that  broke  out  about  Stephen 
went  as  far  as  Cyprus  telling  the 

Message,  but  only  to  Jews.''  Copper  obtained  its  name 
from  the  name  of  this  island  where  it  was  early  found. 
Possibly  the  estate  of  Barnabas,  here,  which  he  had 
sold  for  the  common  good  contained  mining  interests. 

59 


60  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

At  any  rate  he  was  at  home  on  the  island  of  his  birth 
to  which  he  came  with  two  comrades — one  of  them 
a  religious  protege  of  his,  the  other  his  cousin — pros- 
pecting for  something  more  precious  than  metal.  They 
went  from  place  to  place  through  the  island  seeking 
people  who  might  be  ready  to  take  the  pearl  of  great 
price.  The  results  are  unrecorded,  except  at  one  point, 
the  capital. 

54.  There,  events  of  the  greatest  significance  in  the 
history  of  missions  were  to  occur.  Christianity  having 
left  the  provinces  of  its  birth  and  started  on  an  ag- 
gressive career  in  the  empire,  was  summoned  into  the 
presence  of  the  imperial  Proconsul.  He  was  a  man 
of  marked  intelligence,  and  represented  to  some  ex- 
tent the  best  attainments  of  Roman  or  Western  pagan- 
ism. More  significant  than  the  presence  of  the  Procon- 
sul was  that  of  an  influential  member  of  his  court  who 
was  a  recognized  representative  of  oriental  paganism, 
"Elymas  the  Magian."  He  was,  very  likely,  the  court 
physician  and  astronomer  or  rather  astrologer.  Ser- 
gius  Paulus  availed  himself  of  whatever  wisdom  the 
East  had  to  offer.  Thus  Christianity,  on  its  first  for- 
eign mission  field,  stood  face  to  face  with  what  the 
pagan  world  had  to  offer  in  the  way  of  practical  light 
from  Zoroaster  to  Seneca.  This  island  court  reflected 
the  spiritual  condition  of  the  whole  empire.  The  in- 
quisitive, restless  and  hungry  Occident  was  seek- 
ing to  satisfy  itself  on  the  insights  and  the  super- 
stitions of  the  Orient.  The  whole  energy  of  Saul, 
hitherto  a  figure  second  to  Barnabas,  was  aroused  and 
called  into  action,  as  they  confronted  the  embodiment 


ASIA   MINOR.  6l 

of  heathen  darkness.  "You  incarnation  of  deceit  and 
fraud!"  he  exclaimed.  The  public  overthrow  of  this 
member  of  the  order  of  the  Magi  in  the  presence  of  the 
Roman  Proconsul  proved  its  importance  at  once.  The 
Proconsul  "became  a  believer  in  Christ,  being  greatly 
struck  with  the  teaching  about  the  Master."  The  large- 
minded  historian  Luke  seized  on  this  point  for  record 
in  his  story  of  missions  and  marked  it  by  thereafter 
placing  Saul  as  the  foremost  missionary  and  calling 
him  by  his  Gentile  name,  Paul. 

55.  From  Cyprus  the  three  missionaries,  with  Paul 
now  in  the  lead,  sailed  to  undertake  a  mission  on  the 
mainland.  But  after  the  intense  excitement  of  the 
great  crisis  between  Christianity  and  paganism  at 
Paphos,  the  highly  sensitive  organism  of  Paul  suffered 
reaction  in  the  enervating  and  malarious  cli- 
mate of  Pamphylia.  It  was  necessary  to  go  at  once 
to  the  highlands  of  Southern  Galatia.  John  Mark  de- 
murred at  this  change  of  plan  and  left  the  party.  Bar- 
nabas, however,  continued  the  journey  with  Paul 
across  the  mountains  and  over  to  Pisidian  Antioch,. 
which  lay  3,600  feet  above  the  sea.  We  know  from 
Paul's  own  pen  that  it  was  physical  malady  which 
brought  him  to  this  region.  There  are  many  con- 
jectures as  to  the  nature  of  the  malady.  But,  taking 
all  the  scattered  hints  into  account,  it  seems  probable 
that  it  was  some  extremely  painful,  occasionally  dis- 
abling and  even  loathsome,  affection  of  the  eyes.  One 
who  has  suffered  from  acute  inflammation  of  the  optic 
nerve  would  not  think  "a  tent-peg  in  the  flesh"  too 
strong  a  phrase  with  which  to  characterize  it.    What- 


62  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

ever  the  disease  may  have  been,  it  is  a  significant  fact 
in  missionary  history  that  this  was  the  means  used  by 
providence  to  determine  where  the  first  mission  in  Asia 
Minor  should  be  planted.  Paul,  instead  of  being  de- 
feated by  physical  disabilities,  turned  them  to  account 
in  his  mission.  He  was  so  earnest  in  spirit  that  his 
unsightly  appearance  instead  of  turning  people  away 
from  the  gospel  called  out  their  interest  and  sympa- 
thies. 

56.  After  weeks  of  patient  work,  he  preached  a  ser- 
mon in  the  synagogue  one  day  which  aroused  the  whole 
community  of  Jews  and  their  proselytes.  It  was  so 
impressive  that  some  one  made  memoranda  of  it,  so 
that  we  still  possess  a  brief  abstract.  It  is  of  great 
interest,  not  only  as  a  sermon  which  set  a  whole  town 
to  thinking,  but  also  as  being  the  first  report  of  a 
Christian  sermon  preached  in  the  foreign  mission  field. 
It  was  addressed  to  Jews  and  to  those  whom  their  mis- 
sions had  converted  to  Judaism.  It  did  not  offend 
them.  On  the  contrary,  as  they  were  going  out  they 
begged  for  the  repetition  of  its  teaching.  They  even 
followed  Paul  and  Barnabas  after  they  had  left  the 
house  of  worship.  The  favor  of  God  through  his 
own  mercy,  instead  of  through  ritual  merit,  was  a 
boon,  a  good-news  indeed.  The  missionaries  "urged" 
the  inquirers  "to  continue  to  rely  on  the  mercy  of 
God."  Crowds  came  the  next  Sabbath,  including  many 
of  the  heathen  townspeople.  Saved  by  grace  was  a 
precious  note  to  them  also.  But  the  Jews  could  not 
bear  the  thought  that  Gentiles  were  being  welcomed 
into  the  family  of  God  without  first  coming  through 


ASIA    MINOR.  63 

the  ritual  door,  and  so  "they  became  exceedingly 
jealous."  But  the  missionaries  spoke  out  with  utmost 
plainness  and  said:  ''It  is  necessary  that  God's  Mes- 
sage should  be  told  you  first;  but  since  you  reject  it 
and  do  not  reckon  yourselves  worthy  of  the  Enduring 
Life — why,  we  turn  to  the  heathen!  For  this  is  the 
Lord's  order  to  us — 

"  'I  have  destined  thee  for  a  light  to  the  heathen,  to 
be  the  means  of  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.'  " 

Many  of  the  heathen  were  delighted  on  hearing  this 
and  became  Christians.  The  work  spread  among  them 
throughout  the  whole  region  of  which  Antioch  was 
the  center.  At  last,  however,  Jewish  bigotry  drove  the 
missionaries  out  of  that  section  of  the  country 

57.  They  went  about  eighty  miles  southwest,  to  Ico- 
nium.  Their  experiences  at  Antioch  were  repeated 
here.  Luke  gives  a  brief  narrative  which  be  begins 
with  the  statement  that  "the  same  thing  occurred  in 
Iconium."  At  Lystra,  18  miles  southwest  of  Iconium, 
the  missionaries  appear  to  have  found  no  Jewish  syn- 
agogue and  to  have  come  into  immediate  contact  with 
raw  paganism.  The  rude  villagers,  on  seeing  a  deed 
of  mercy,  first  wanted  to  worship  the  benefactors  as 
gods,  then  in  swift  reaction  wanted  to  kill  them.  The 
event  of  greatest  importance  at  Lystra  in  the  spread 
of  the  gospel  was  the  coming  to  Christ  there  of  a  young 
man  by  the  name  of  Timothy.  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
driven  from  Lystra  by  Jews  of  Antioch  and  Iconium, 
went  southeast  to  Derbe.  There  they  "made  many 
disciples." 

58.  The  missionaries  were  now  at  a  point  where  they 


64  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

might  naturally  have  returned  to  Antioch  in  Syria  by 
the  land  route.  Instead  of  doing  this  they  went  back 
through  the  places  where  they  had  met  such  bitter  hos- 
tility. They  did  it  for  the  sake  of  establishing  the 
converts  and  organizing  them  into  groups  for  perma- 
nent service.  On  the  way  home  they  preached  in 
Perga,  but  did  not  revisit  Cyprus.  On  reaching  the 
Mother  Church  in  Syrian  Antioch  "they  gathered  the 
Church  together,  and  gave  an  account  of  all  that  God 
had  done  with  and  through  them,  especially  how  He 
had  opened  to  the  heathen  a  door  to  the  Faith ;  and 
at  Antioch  they  stayed  with  the  disciples  for  a  long 
time."  This  first  truly  foreign  mission  was  carried 
through  in  the  years  46  to  49. 

59.  After  two  years  in  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  spent 
largely  in  getting  the  home  field  into  right  relations 
with  the  work  for  the  heathen,  Paul  set  out  on  a  second 
missionary  tour,  taking  for  a  companion  Silas.  They 
went,  overland  this  time,  into  the  region  formerly 
visited,  coming  first  to  Derbe.  At  Lystra  Paul  took 
Timothy  into  the  missionary  staff.  The  results  of  this 
second  tour  in  South  Galatia  were  admirable.  "So  the 
Churches  grew  stronger  in  the  Faith  and  increased  in 
numbers  from  day  to  day."  But  the  missionaries  were 
followed  by  that  bane  of  Christianity  in  all  ages  and 
lands,  Judaizers,  men  who  are  determined  to  make 
religion  turn  on  ceremonies,  on  the  symbols,  instead  of 
or  the  realities.  Hence,  three  years  after  his  second 
visit,  Paul  wrote  to  these  Galatian  churches  that  won- 
derful letter  which  has  been  the  magna  chart  a  of  Chris- 
tian life  and  liberty  ever  since.     Soon  after  he  made 


o 
1-3 

w 

w 
w 


ASIA    MINOR.  65 

another  visit  in  Galatia  on  his  third  missionary  tour. 
"After  making  some  stay  in  Antioch,  he  set  out  on  a 
tour  through  the  Phrygian  district  of  Galatia, 
strengthening  the  faith  of  all  the  disciples  as  he  went." 
This  is  the  last  that  is  known  of  missionary  work  in 
Southern  Asia  Minor. 

60.  Ephesus  was  the  metropolis  of  Western  Asia 
Minor  and  the  center  of  its  heathen  worship.  Its  tem- 
ple of  Diana  was  more  than  342  feet  long  and  163  feet 
wide  as  shown  by  modern  measurements  of  the  foun- 
dations. Great  fragments  of  its  splendid  marble  col- 
umns and  architraves  fascinate  the  eye  of  the  visitor 
to-day.  Our  illustration  shows  how  it  would  appear 
if  it  were  restored  on  the  old  lines  of  magnificence  and 
beauty.  In  Paul's  day  it  was  venerable  with  more  than 
three  hundred  years  of  history.  It  contained  the  image 
of  Diana  "which  fell  down  from  Jupiter"  as  the  people 
believed.  It  enshrined  a  still  greater  treasure,  as  we 
should  think,  a  painting  of  Alexander  the  Great  by 
Apelles  the  famous  Greek  artist.  That  was  rated  at  a 
money  value  equal  to  about  $200,000.  This  building 
was  not  only  a  temple  and  an  art  museum,  it  was  also 
a  safe  deposit  bank  containing  immense  quantities  of 
money  and  jewels.  No  wonder  that  pilgrims  from 
everywhere  wished  to  take  home  with  them  little 
models  of  the  building  in  terra  cotta,  marble  or  silver. 
Diana  deftly  moulded  or  carved  within  made  the  me- 
mento a  sacred  shrine. 

61.  The  first  missionary  of  whom  we  know  in  Eph- 
esus was  Apollos.  He  was  filled  with  Old  Testament 
learning  and  with  zeal  for  John  the  Baptist  and  for 


66  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

the  Christ.  But  he  had  started  on  his  mission  without 
understanding  the  meaning  of  the  Day  of  Pentecost. 
Converts  in  Ephesus  knew  what  it  was  to  be  baptised 
for  forgiveness  of  sins  but  not  the  far  higher  reality 
of  being  baptized  into  the  Spirit  of  Jesus.  An  earnest 
business  woman  and  her  husband  who  had  learned 
elsewhere  that  Christianity  is  not  mainly  a  negative 
but  a  positive  experience,  a  living  of  the  divine  life, 
did  what  they  could  to  correct  the  serious  blunder  of 
Apollos.  Meantime,  Paul  had  been  longing  to  reach 
the  religious  metropolis  of  Asia  Minor.  He  had  tried 
his  best  to  do  so  in  the  year  51  on  his  second  mission- 
ary journey  westward,  but  had  been  prevented  by  un- 
mistakable indications  of  providence.  On  the  way 
back,  three  years  later,  unable  as  yet  to  stop  long  him- 
self, he  did  the  next  best  thing  by  bringing  with  him 
and  leaving  there  Priscilla  and  Aquila.  "They  put  into 
Ephesus,  and  there  Paul,  leaving  his  companions,  went 
into  the  synagogue  and  addressed  the  Jews.  When 
they  asked  him  to  prolong  his  stay,  he  declined,  say- 
ing, however,  as  he  took  his  leave,  'I  will  come  back 
again  to  you,  please  God,'  and  then  set  sail  from  Ephe- 
sus." 

62.  Within  a  few  months  he  was  able  to  keep  his 
conditional  promise.  Once  here  at  the  goal  of  his  mis- 
sionary longing,  Paul  stayed  and  worked  longer  than 
we  have  record  of  his  doing  at  any  other  place,  some 
three  years.  Though  he  was  bold  in  his  proclamation  of 
Christ,  the  final  break  with  the  Jews  did  not  come  for 
three  months.  When  he  was  excluded  from  the  syna- 
gogue, he  secured  a  public  lecture  hall  in  which  to  pro- 


Bore. 


PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 


ASIA    MINOR.  67 

claim  the  good  news.  He  also  went  from  house  to 
house,  not  in  ordinary  pastoral  calls  on  disciples,  but  in 
specific  effort  for  the  unevangelized.  He  was  able  to 
reach  not  only  the  city  but  the  whole  region  of  which  it 
was  the  commercial  and  religious  center.  "This  went 
on  for  two  years,  so  that  all  who  lived  in  Roman  Asia, 
Jews  and  Greeks  alike,  heard  the  Lord's  Message." 
This  wide  effect  was  accomplished  by  reaching  people 
who  visited  the  city  and  doubtless  also  by  sending  out 
native  evangelists.  Philemon  and  Epaphras  of  Colos- 
sas  were  Paul's  converts,  though  he  never  visited  that 
place  in  person.  The  burning  of  the  books  of  the  ma- 
gicians and  the  great  riot  in  the  theater,  caused  by  the 
falling  off  in  the  trade  in  Diana  shrines,  are  two  un- 
mistakable indications  as  to  the  extent  and  success  of 
Paul's  mission  at  Ephesus.  Perhaps  the  most  beautiful 
and  touching  summary  of  mission  work  in  all  literature 
is  Luke's  record  of  Paul's  address  to  the  Ephesian 
Elders  on  his  final  separation  from  them.  But  he  never 
gave  up  his  influential  connection  with  the  field.  When 
a  prisoner  in  Rome  four  or  five  years  after  leaving 
Ephesus,  he  wrote  the  three  charming,  practical  and 
inspiring  letters  to  this  region,  "Philemon,"  "Colos- 
sians"  and  "Ephesians." 

63.  Two  or  three  years  later  we  gain  a  glimpse  of 
the  fact  that  Christianity  had  been  widely  planted  in 
Asia  Minor.  Peter  wrote  to  converted  Jews  who  lived 
in  five  different  provinces  of  Asia  Minor,  "Pontus,  Gal- 
atia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia."  Paul  had 
directly  labored  only  in  Galatia  and  Asia,  so  that  there 
must  have  been  many  earnest  missionaries  of  whom  we 


68  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

have  no  record.  The  oldest  form  of  the  traditions 
about  the  fields  of  labor  of  the  Apostles  assigns  to 
Asia  Minor,  Peter  and  John. 

About  the  labors  of  John  there  we  are  reasonably 
sure.  Probably  only  two  or  three  years  after  Peter's 
letter  to  the  Christians  in  five  provinces,  John  wrote  to 
seven  churches  in  the  one  province  of  Asia. 

64.  There  is  a  precious  testimony  to  the  early  suc- 
cess of  missions  in  Northern  Asia  Minor  which  comes 
to  us  from  the  pens  of  two  distinguished  Romans,  a 
letter  of  Pliny,  governor  of  the  combined  provinces 
of  Bythinia  and  Pontus  on  the  Black  Sea,  to  Trajan 
and  the  emperor's  reply.  They  were  written  in  A.  D. 
112  or  113.  Pliny  is  asking  for  advice  as  to  what 
measures  he  ought  to  pursue  in  suppressing  Christi- 
anity. In  reporting  what  he  has  already  done  he 
declares  that  he  has  compelled  many  to  renounce 
Christ  and  to  offer  libations  before  the  statue  of  the 
emperor,  adding,  "none  of  which  things  it  is  said  can 
such  as  are  really  and  truly  Christians  be  compelled  to 
do."  He  says  that  "others  named  by  the  informer 
admitted  that  they  were  Christians,  and  then  shortly 
afterwards  denied  it,  adding  that  they  had  been  Chris- 
tians, but  had  ceased  to  be  so,  some  three  years,  some 
many  years,  more  than  one  of  them  as  much  as  twenty 
years,  before."  According  to  Pliny,  then,  there  were 
Christians  in  that  region  before  the  year  100.  He  was 
writing  at  Amisos,  a  great  seaport  in  the  extreme 
northeast  of  Asia  Minor.  Putting  one  indication  with 
another  Prof.  Ramsay  concludes  that  Christianity  must 
have  been  introduced  about  Amisos  not  far  from  the 


ASIA    MINOR.  69 

year  70.    Let  Pliny  tell  us  what  the  character  and  ex-, 
tent  of  it  were  in  his  day : 

"They  affirmed,  however,  that  this  had  been  the  sum, 
whether  of  their  crime  or  their  delusion ;  they  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  meeting  together  on  a  stated  day,  before  sunrise,  and 
of  offering  in  turns  a  form  of  invocation  to  Christ,  as  to  a 
god ;  also  of  binding  themselves  by  an  oath,  not  for  any 
guilty  purpose,  but  not  to  commit  thefts,  or  robberies,  or 
adulteries,  not  to  break  their  word,  not  to  repudiate  deposits 
when  called  upon ;  these  ceremonies  having  been  gone  through 
they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  separating,  and  again  meeting 
together  for  the  purpose  of  taking  food — food,  that  is,  of  an 
ordinary  and  innocent  kind.  They  had,  however,  ceased  from 
doing  even  this,  after  my  edict,  in  which,  following  your 
orders,  I  had  forbidden  the  existence  of  fraternities.  This 
made  me  think  it  all  the  more  necessary  to  inquire,  even  by 
torture,  of  two  maid-servants,  who  were  styled  deaconesses, 
what  the  truth  was.  I  could  discover  nothing  else  than  a 
vicious  and  extravagant  superstition ;  consequently,  having 
adjourned  the  inquiry,  I  have  had  recourse  to  your  counsels. 
Indeed,  the  matter  seemed  to  me  a  proper  one  for  consulta- 
tion, chiefly  on  account  of  the  number  of  persons  imperiled. 
For  many  of  all  ages  and  all  ranks,  aye,  and  of  both  sexes, 
are  being  called,  and  will  be  called,  into  danger.  Nor  are 
cities  only  permeated  by  the  contagion  of  this  superstition,  but 
villages  and  country  parts  as  well ;  yet  it  seems  possible  to 
stop  it  and  cure  it.  It  is  in  truth  sufficiently  evident  that  the 
temples,  which  were  almost  entirely  deserted,  have  begun  to 
be  frequented,  that  the  customary  religious  rites  which  had 
long  been  interrupted  are  being  resumed,  and  that  there  is  a 
sale  for  the  food  of  sacrificial  beasts,  for  which  hitherto  very 
few  buyers  indeed  could  be  found.  From  all  this  it  is  easy 
to  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  great  number  of  persons  who 
may  be  reclaimed,  if  only  room  be  granted  for  penitence." 

65.  There  is  an  interesting  glimpse  of  missionary 
activity  in  the  northern  part  of  Asia  Minor  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  third  century.  Gregory,  of  a  distinguished 


JO  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

family,  an  enthusiastic  pupil  of  Origen,  became  pastor 
of  New  Caesarea  A.  D.  240.  It  is  said  that  he  found 
but  seventeen  Christians  in  that  pagan  town  and  that 
when  he  died  thirty  years  later  he  left  but  seventeen 
pagans  there.  The  precise  numbers  may  be  rhetorical. 
But  the  general  fact  of  his  missionary  service  and  suc- 
cess is  undoubted.  He  was  called  the  Wonder-worker. 
He  was  a  man  of  inspiring  personality.  Such  men 
often  heal  the  body  as  well  as  the  soul.  Gregory  of 
Nysa,  in  another  part  of  Asia  Minor,  writes  of  his 
friend  Gregory  of  New  Caesarea  eight  years  after  the 
latter's  death,  and  tells  how  crowds  used  to  gather 
early  in  the  morning,  when  Gregory  "preached,  ques- 
tioned, admonished,  instructed  and  healed.  In  this  way, 
and  by  the  tokens  of  divine  power  which  shone  forth 
upon  him,  he  attracted  multitudes  to  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel.  The  mourner  was  comforted,  the  young 
man  was  taught  sobriety,  to  the  old  fitting  counsel  was 
addressed.  Slaves  were  admonished  to  be  dutiful  to 
their  masters;  those  in  authority  to  be  kind  to  their 
inferiors.  The  poor  were  taught  that  virtue  is  the  only 
wealth,  and  the  rich  that  they  were  but  the  stewards 
of  their  property  and  not  its  owners." 

66.  We  cannot  better  close  our  study  of  missions  in 
Syria  and  Asia  Minor  than  with  the  story  of  the  con- 
version of  a  Syrian  which  took  place  probably  in  Asia 
Minor.  Justin  Martyr  was  born  at  Nablous,  in  Sa- 
maria, only  about  eighty-five  years  after  the  ministry 
of  Jesus  to  the  woman  and  the  men  of  that  town.  His 
parents  were  neither  Samaritans,  Jews  nor  Christians, 
but  heathen  and  people  of  some  means.    Young  Justin 


ASIA    MINOR.  71 

was  able  to  gratify  his  hunger  for  knowledge.  He 
traveled  far  and  wide  studying  in  one  after  another 
of  the  schools  of  philosophy.  But  nothing  fully  satis- 
fied the  needs  of  his  mind.  He  shared  the  common 
contempt  of  the  philosophers  for  Christians  until  he 
had  seen  the  calmness  and  evident  sincerity  with  which 
Christians  met  martyrdom.  He  was  so  far  impressed, 
after  a  time,  that  he  wished  that  some  one  would  stand 
out  and  cry  aloud  with  tragic  voice,  "Shame,  shame 
on  the  guilty,  who  charge  upon  the  innocent  the  crimes 
of  themselves  and  their  gods!"  About  this  time  as 
he  was  walking  one  day  on  the  seashore  for  philosophic 
contemplation  "a  certain  old  man,  by  no  means  con- 
temptible in  appearance,  exhibiting  meek  and  venerable 
manners,"  entered  into  conversation  with  Justin  and 
plied  him  with  philosophic  questions  after  the  manner 
of  Socrates.  Pointing  finally  to  the  insufficiencies  of 
Plato,  Pythagoras  and  the  philosophers  in  general,  the 
wise  missionary  led  him  to  study  the  Old  Testament 
prophets.  Speaking  of  the  effect  of  this  conversation 
on  himself,  he  says  : 

"A  flame  was  kindled  in  my  soul ;  and  a  love  of  the  prophets, 
and  of  those  men  who  are  friends  of  Christ,  possessed  me ; 
and  whilst  revolving  his  words  in  my  mind,  I  found  this  phil- 
osophy alone  to  be  safe  and  profitable.  Thus,  and  for  this 
reason,  I  am  a  philosopher.  Moreover,  I  would  wish  that 
all,  making  a  resolution  similar  to  my  own,  do  not  keep 
themselves  away  from  the  words  of  the  Saviour.  For  they 
possess  a  terrible  power  in  themselves,  and  are  sufficient  to 
inspire  those  who  turn  aside  from  the  path  of  rectitude  with 
awe ;  while  the  sweetest  rest  is  afforded  those  who  make  a 
diligent  practice  of  them." 

Justin  continued  to  wear  his  philosopher's  cloak  and 


J72  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

it  sometimes  inclined  inquirers  to  him.  His  philosophy 
was  Christianity  and  he  became  its  earnest  missionary 
both  by  word  and  by  pen.  We  shall  see  him,  later  in 
Italy,  addressing  the  emperors  themselves  in  behalf  of 
Christianity. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


PERSIA. 


67.  "The  East."  68.  Story  of  Abgar  and  Jesus.  69. 
The  correspondence.  70.  Apostolic  work.  71.  Early 
work.  72.  Bardaisan  and  Edessa.  73.  The  Apostle 
of  Armenia.  74.  Results.  75.  Georgia.  76.  Nes- 
torians.  77.  Extent  of  Nestorian  missions.  78.  Saul 
and  Origen  in  Arabia.  79.  A  political  mission.  80. 
Mohammed.        81.  Moravians  in  Persia. 


67.  The  word  Persia  is  used  here  to  cover  the  great 
expanse  of  country  which  has  been  included  at  one 
time  or  another  in  the  Persian  Empire,  lying  between 
Asia  Minor  and  Syria  on  the  one  hand  and  India  and 
Central  Asia  on  the  other.  It  included  the  Armenian 
Mountains,  the  Mesopotamia!!  Valley  and  the  Arabian 
Desert  as  well  as  Persia  proper  and  other  adjacent  re- 
gions. It  was  "the  East."  It  is  probable  that  some 
knowledge  of  the  new  Messiah  penetrated  the  East 
during  the  life  of  Jesus  himself.  What  did  the  Wise 
Men  tell  after  they  had  returned  from  Bethlehem  ?  Lat- 
er, during  his  public  ministry,  is  it  possible  that  no  ru- 
mor of  the  amazing  Galilean  Healer  and  Prophet  float- 
ed Eastward  on  the  wings  of  travel  and  trade  ? 

One  still  sees  on  the  pathways  of  Palestine  long 
trains  of  laden  camels  going  back  and  forth  to  and 

73 


74  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

from  the  East.     Suffering  humanity  is  ever  alert  to 
learn  of  any  one  who  can  alleviate  its  pains. 

68.  According  to  a  very  ancient  account,  accepted  as 
authentic  by  Eusebius,  one  of  the  kings  of  the  nearer 
East  sent  to  the  Nazarene  Healer  for  help ;  most  schol- 
ars believe  that  the  story  is  largely  or  wholly  legend- 
ary, though  there  have  been  some  experts  in  this 
realm  of  knowledge  who  have  thought  that  the  account 
rests  on  a  solid  basis  of  fact.  There  is  enough  of  pos- 
sibility in  it,  not  to  say  probability,  to  make  it  a  natural 
preface  to  the  history  of  missions  in  the  East. 

69.  Eusebius,  writing  not  later  than  A.  D.  324,  says : 

"The  divinity  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  being 
noised  abroad  among  all  men  on  account  of  his  wonder- 
working power,  he  attracted  countless  numbers  from  foreign 
countries  lying  far  away  from  Judea,  who  had  the  hope  of 
being  cured  of  their  diseases  and  of  all  kinds  of  sufferings. 
For  instance,  the  King  Abgarus,  who  ruled  with  great  glory 
the  nations  beyond  the  Euphrates,  being  afflicted  with  a  ter- 
rible disease  which  it  was  beyond  the  power  of  human  skill 
to  cure,  when  he  heard  of  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  of  his 
miracles,  which  were  attested  by  all  with  one  accord,  sent  a 
message  to  him  by  a  courier,  and  begged  him  to  heal  his 
disease.  But  he  did  not  at  that  time  comply  with  his  request ; 
yet  he  deemed  him  worthy  of  a  personal  letter  in  which  he 
said  that  he  would  send  one  of  his  disciples  to  cure  his  dis- 
ease, and  at  the  same  time  promised  salvation  to  himself,  and 
all  his  house.  Not  long  afterward  his  promise  was  fulfilled. 
For  after  his  resurrection  from  the  dead  and  his  ascent  into 
heaven,  Thomas,  one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  under  divine  im- 
pulse, sent  Thaddeus,  who  was  also  numbered  among  the 
seventy  disciples  of  Christ,  to  Edessa,  as  a  preacher  and 
evangelist  of  the  teaching  of  Christ.  And  all  that  our 
Saviour  had  promised  received  through  him   its   fulfillment. 


PERSIA.  75 

You  have  written  evidence  of  these  things  taken  from  the 
archives  of  Edessa,  which  was  at  that  time  a  royal  city.  For 
in  the  public  registers  there,  which  contain  accounts  of  an- 
cient times  and  the  acts  of  Abgarus,  these  things  have  been 
found  preserved  down  to  the  present  time.  But  there  is  no 
better  way  than  to  hear  the  epistles  themselves  which  we 
have  taken  from  the  archives  and  have  literally  translated 
from  the  Syriac  language  in  the  following  manner : 

"Copy  of  an  epistle  written  by  Abgarus  the  ruler  to  Jesus, 
and  sent  to  him  at  Jerusalem  by  Ananias  the  swift  courier. 
'Abgarus,  ruler  of  Edessa,  to  Jesus,  the  excellent  Saviour 
.who  has  appeared  in  the  country  of  Jerusalem,  greeting.  I 
have  heard  the  reports  of  thee  and  of  thy  cures  as  performed 
by  thee  without  medicines  or  herbs.  For  it  is  said  that  thou 
makest  the  blind  to  see  and  the  lame  to  walk,  that  thou 
cleansest  lepers  and  castest  out  impure  spirits  and  demons, 
and  that  thou  healest  those  afflicted  with  lingering  disease 
and  raisest  the  dead.  And  having  heard  all  these  things  con- 
cerning thee,  I  have  concluded  that  one  of  two  things  must 
be  true :  either  thou  art  God,  and  having  come  down  from 
heaven  thou  doest  these  things,  or  else  thou,  who  doest  these 
things,  art  the  Son  of  God.  I  have  therefore  written  to  thee 
to  ask  thee  that  thou  wouldst  take  the  trouble  to  come  to  me 
and  heal  the  disease  which  I  have.  For  I  have  heard  that 
the  Jews  are  murmuring  against  thee  and  are  plotting  to  in- 
jure thee.  But  I  have  a  very  small  yet  noble  city  which  is 
great  enough  for  us  both.' 

"The  answer  of  Jesus  to  the  ruler  Abgarus  by  the  courier 
Ananias.  'Blessed  art  thou  who  hast  believed  in  me  without 
having  seen  me.  For  it  is  written  concerning  me,  that  they 
who  have  seen  me  will  not  believe  in  me,  and  that  they  who 
have  not  seen  me  will  believe  and  be  saved.  But  in  regard 
to  what  thou  hast  written  me,  that  I  should  come  to  thee,  it 
is  necessary  for  me  to  fulfill  all  things  here  for  which  I  have 
been  sent,  and  after  I  have  fulfilled  them  thus  to  be  taken 
up  again  to  him  that  sent  me.  But  after  I  have  been  taken 
up  I  will  send  to  thee  one  of  my  disciples,  that  he  may  heal 
thy  disease  and  give  life  to  thee  and  thine.' 


76  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

"To  these  epistles  there  was  added  the  following  account  in 
the  Syriac  language:  'After  the  ascension  of  Jesus,  Judas, 
who  was  also  called  Thomas,  sent  to  him  Thaddeus,  an 
apostle,  one  of  the  seventy.'  " 

Eusebius  proceeds  to  tell,  still  quoting  from  the 
archives  of  Edessa,  how  Thaddeus  healed  Abgar,  re- 
fusing to  take  any  money  in  return,  and  proclaimed 
Christ  to  him  and  his  people.  Later  accounts  greatly 
enlarged  and  embellished  the  story  of  the  conversion 
of  Abgar  and  his  realm.  All  that  we  can  be  sure  of  on 
the  testimony  of  Eusebius  is  that  the  Gospel  was  in- 
troduced in  that  part  of  Mesopotamia  long  before  the 
year  300.  The  first  missionary  may  have  been  Thad- 
deus, the  Apostle,  or  one  of  the  seventy  by  the  same 
name. 

70.  We  know  that  many  of  the  people  present  on 
the  Day  of  Pentecost  belonged  in  what  we  are  calling 
Persia.  "Some  of  us  are  Parthians,  some  Medes,  some 
Elamites  and  some  of  us  live  in  Mesopotamia."  If  no 
word  went  into  the  East  from  the  lips  or  the  bodily 
ministry  of  Jesus,  he  soon  spoke  there  in  the  Spirit. 
Waiting  and  expectant  harps  on  the  willows  of  the 
waters  of  Babylon  caught  up  the  glad  tidings  that  the 
Hope  of  Israel  had  come.  We  have  good  reason  to 
think  that  Peter  the  missionary  to  the  circumcision 
carried  out  his  mission  in  the  Euphrates  Valley,  where 
so  many  more  of  his  brethren  in  the  flesh  had  their 
homes  than  lived  in  Palestine  or  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world.  Babylon  was  the  most  natural  place  for  him 
to  be  found  writing  his  Epistle  in  the  seventh  decade 
of  the  first  century. 

71.  It  is  affirmed  by  tradition  that  before  the  end  of 


PERSIA.  J? 

the  first  century  Mar  Maris  planted  a  church  at  Seleu- 
cia-Ctisephon,  the  winter  capital  of  the  Parthian  or 
Persian  kings,  and  that  from  here  he  made  a  success- 
ful evangelizing  tour  through  Doorkan,  Cashgar,  the 
two  Iraks,  El  Ahwaz,  Yemen  and  the  Island  of  So- 
cotra.  At  a  very  early  date  it  is  certain  that  Chris- 
tianity in  Syria  spread  into  the  adjacent  regions  east- 
ward. A  significant  event  in  the  progress  of  missions 
always  is  the  putting  of  the  Sacred  Writings  into  the 
language  of  the  people.  The  Scriptures  were  trans- 
lated into  the  Syriac  language,  probably  at  Edessa,  as 
early  as  the  second  century.  This  was  the  first  trans- 
lation of  the  New  Testament. 

72.  The  first  missionary  in  the  East,  after  the  apos- 
tolic days,  of  whom  we  have  definite  knowledge,  was 
Bardaisan,  a  high-born  native  of  Edessa.  He  was  a 
counsellor  of  Bar-Manu,  the  Abgar  of  his  day,  and 
appears  to  have  been  the  instrument  of  his  conversion. 
Abgar,  like  Caesar,  was  the  title  of  a  long  succession 
of  rulers.  From  the  time  of  Abgar  Bar-Manu  (about 
200),  Baalistic  symbols  cease  to  appear  on  the  coins 
of  Edessa  and  the  cross  takes  their  place.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  Bar-Manu  was  the  first  Christian  Abgar,  and 
that  after  one  hundred  years  the  story  of  his  conver- 
sion was  attributed  to  the  much  earlier  Abgar  of 
Christ's  day  and  was  glorified  by  local  pride  into  the 
account  which  Eusebius  found  in  the  Edessene  ar- 
chives. There  was  a  Christian  meeting-house  in 
Edessa  by  the  year  203,  for  we  have  record  of  its  de- 
struction at  that  time  by  flood.  The  Roman  Emperor, 
Caracalla,  spent  the  winter  of  216  at  Edessa  and,  hav- 


78  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

ing  sent  Bar-Manu  to  Rome  in  chains,  sought  to  make 
Bardaisan  deny  the  Christian  faith,  but  he  witnessed 
instead  a  bold  confession.  Bardaisan  then  went  into 
Armenia  in  the  hope  of  making  converts  there  also. 
We  see  him  again  holding  serious  conference  with 
men  from  India,  who  were  envoys  to  Elagabalus 
Csesar.  Though  Bardaisan  is  the  first  missionary  in 
the  East  after  the  first  century  whose  name  we  know, 
he  himself  tells  us  that  already  Christianity  had  spread 
in  Parthia,  Media,  Persia  and  Bactria,  i.  e.,  through- 
out the  whole  region  which  we  are  studying  in  the 
present  chapter. 

Edessa  stood  near  one  of  the  great  highways  of  the 
globe.  It  was  but  twenty  miles  from  Haran,  where 
the  clan  of  Abraham  had  stopped  for  a  time  in  its 
migration  from  the  East  to  the  West.  Nearly  four 
millenniums  later  England  has  projected  a  railway  to 
India  along  this  route.  It  was  at  this  strategic  point 
that  Bardaisan  fell  in  with  the  envoys  from  India  to 
Italy  and  conferred  with  them  on  the  highest  themes. 

73.  The  Armenians  lay  claim  to  the  accounts  of 
Christianity  in  connection  with  the  Abgars  and  with 
Edessa  as  being  their  own  history.  There  are  other 
traces  of  the  introduction  of  the  faith  into  Armenia 
before  the  year  300.  There  were  doubtless  many  be- 
lievers scattered  through  the  land.  But  the  Christiani- 
zation  of  the  country  in  general  took  place  in  the  earlv 
part  of  the  fourth  century.  No  country  can  more  cor- 
rectly name  a  single  missionary  as  its  apostle  than 
Armenia.  Gregory,  called  the  Illuminator,  carried 
the  light  of  the  gospel  through  Armenia.     His  father 


PERSIA.  79 

was  a  Parthian  invader  of  the  country,  whose  whole 
family  was  exterminated  by  the  Armenians  except  the 
infant  son  Gregory.  He  was  rescued  and  taken  to 
Csesarea  in  Cappadocia,  Asia  Minor.  There  he  was 
brought  up  in  the  Christian  faith.  When  about  25 
years  old  he  went  to  Armenia  and  ingratiated  himself 
with  the  king,  Tiradates  III,  without  the  latter's 
knowledge  of  the  terrible  enmity  between  their 
fathers.  But  on  a  great  occasion  Gregory  refused  to 
worship  Anahid,  one  of  the  idols  of  Tiradates,  and 
even  preached  Christ  to  him.  The  king  put  Gregory 
to  torture,  and  on  learning  who  he  was  had  him  flung 
into  a  dark  and  slimy  dungeon  to  die.  But  one  of  the 
Christians  already  in  the  land  brought  him  food  daily 
for  fourteen  years.  The  king  became  afflicted  with  a 
terrible  disease  and  his  sister  dreamed  that  the  release 
of  Gregory  would  insure  recovery.  This  proved  true, 
and  gave  Gregory  an  opening  for  the  free  proclama- 
tion of  the  gospel.  Tiradates,  his  wife,  his  sister  and 
many  of  their  retainers  were  converted. 

74.  A  national  council  was  summoned,  which  adopt- 
ed Christianity  and  sent  Gregory  to  Cappadocia  to  be 
ordained  in  his  old  home,  Csesarea.  This  was  about 
the  year  302.  Immediately  on  his  return,  accom- 
panied by  a  band  of  missionaries,  it  is  said  that  in 
twenty  days  190,000  people  received  baptism.  Tira- 
dates was  the  first  great  sovereign  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian. He  preached  Christ  with  zeal  himself  and  took 
Gregory  with  him  on  a  royal  missionary  progress 
through  the  land.  At  one  time,  according  to  the  old- 
est account  we  have,  in  the  course  of  three  days,  150,- 


80  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

000  of  the  king's  troops,  clothed  in  white  robes,  went 
down  into  the  Euphrates  River  and  came  up  out  of 
the  water  as  baptized  Christians. 

It  is  certain  that  Gregory  was  the  enlightener  of 
Armenia.  He  went  from  place  to  place  proclaiming 
Christ.  But  he  could  not  have  accomplished  what  he 
did  without  many  earnest  co-laborers.  At  first  he 
brought  these  from  Cappadocia.  In  writing  back  for 
more  helpers  he  said,  "Those  whom  thou  hast  given 
to  me  I  account  as  precious  pearls."  Zenobios  and 
Epiphanius  were  eminent  among  them.  The  follow- 
ing sentence  from  one  of  his  letters  asking  for  more 
helpers  shows  one  of  the  secrets  of  Gregory's  success 
as  the  Illuminator,  "Especially  do  thou  send  Timo- 
theus,  Bishop  of  the  Adonians,  whom  thou  didst  praise 
for  his  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures,  a  thing  very 
necessary  for  this  country."  As  fast  as  he  could  he 
raised  up  a  native  ministry.  He  is  said  to  have  or- 
dained 400  pastors.  Schools  were  established  under 
the  patronage  of  the  king.  Gregory  died  after  about 
thirty  years  of  service.  He  was  one  of  the  master 
missionaries  of  the  world. 

75.  In  the  region  of  Georgia  the  faith  was  intro- 
duced in  the  fourth  century,  by  a  Christian  woman, 
Nooni,  who  was  carried  there  as  a  captive  to  be  a 
slave.  Her  beautiful  character  won  the  interest  of 
all  who  knew  her.  By  prayer  she  is  said  to  have 
brought  about  the  cure  of  the  queen  from  a  serious  ail- 
ment. This  led  to  the  conversion  of  both  queen  and 
king.  They  zealously  promoted  the  faith  in  their 
realm,   obtaining  missionaries   from   both   Tiradates, 


PERSIA.  51 

their  over-lord,  and  from  Constantine  the  Great. 
Nouni  herself  made  missionary  journeys  through  the 
country  and  was  its  true  apostle. 

76.  To  return  to  Edessa,  the  planting  of  Christian- 
ity there  was  significant,  not  only  for  itself  and  for 
Persia,  including  Armenia,  but  also  for  the  whole 
oriental  world.  What  Antioch  was  to  the  West, 
Edessa  was  to  the  East,  a  fountain  of  far-reaching 
missionary  activity.  It  was  here  and  at  Nisibis,  not 
far  away,  that  Nestorianism  had  its  chief  seat. 

Early  in  the  fifth  century  Nestorius,  Archbishop  of 
Constantinople,  objected  strenuously  to  the  new  fash- 
ion of  calling  Mary  of  Nazareth  the  "Mother  of  God" 
and  to  some  allied  metaphysical  speculations  about 
the  nature  of  Christ,  which  seem  to  us  more  correct 
than  his  own  theories,  but  which  were  then  just  com- 
ing into  vogue.  An  ecclesiastical  council  was  con- 
vened at  Ephesus  to  settle  these  disputed  questions. 
It  was  called  to  order  by  Cyril,  Archbishop  of  Alex- 
andria, the  bitter  foe  of  Nestorius,  before  the  friends 
of  the  latter  from  Syria  reached  the  town.  In  a  sin- 
gle day  (June  22,  A.  D.  431)  a  strong  partisan  con- 
clusion was  reached  which  has  been  counted  ortho- 
doxy ever  since.  After  four  years  of  struggle  most 
disgraceful  to  all  concerned,  Nestorius  was  driven 
into  exile.  His  followers  were  put  under  the  ban  of 
the  emperor  four  years  later  still.  Like  the  persecu- 
tion of  an  earlier  day  in  Syria,  it  proved  to  be  a  good 
thing  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  since  the  Christians  were 
scattered  abroad  and  went  everywhere  preaching  the 
word. 


82  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

The  Nestorians  being  driven  out  of  Edessa  by  im- 
perial persecution,  crossed  the  boundary  of  Parthia 
and  made  Nisibis  their  headquarters.  Here  they  had 
a  flourishing  theological  seminary,  which  was,  in  fact, 
the  greatest  missionary  training-school  that  the  con- 
tinent of  Asia  has  ever  had. 

yy.  One  of  the  wide  missionary  movements  from 
Persia  was  southeastward  into  India,  another  was 
eastward  throughout  Mongolia  and  China.  In  Per- 
sia itself  Nestorianism  entered  into  possession  of  a 
great  body  of  Christianity,  which  had  been  planted 
long  before.  The  record  of  the  planting  has  been 
lost.  As  often  elsewhere,  we  get  a  distinct  view  of 
the  results  of  missions  only  by  the  record  of  persecu- 
tions which  endeavored  to  counteract  those  results. 
Christianity  had  spread  so  widely  that  in  the  fourth 
century,  during  a  persecution  by  Shapur  II  lasting 
thirty-five  years,  16,000  clergy,  monks  and  nuns,  whose 
names  were  recorded,  were  cruelly  put  to  death,  be- 
sides uncounted  thousands  of  Christians  who  were  not 
in  religious  orders.  There  was  then  a  period  of  forty 
years  of  peace,  followed  by  thirty  years  more  of  most 
fiendish  persecution.  Thus  in  the  Persian,  as  well  as 
in  the  better  known  Roman,  empire,  Christianity  made 
its  way  in  the  face  of  terrific  opposition.  The  Magi 
as  a  whole  were  untrue  to  the  vision  which  three  of 
their  number  had  followed  at  the  beginning.  As  a 
class  they  sought  to  quench  the  star  of  Bethlehem  in 
blood.  But  the  churches  survived  and,  gaining  more 
liberty,  multiplied  and  spread  abroad,  for  some  five 
hundred  years  after  Shapur's  persecution,  till  the  Nes- 


PERSIA.  83 

torian  Patriarch  at  Seleucia-Ctesiphon  (near  Bagdad, 
and  the  ancient  Babylon  from  which  he  took  his  title) 
had  twenty-five  metropolitans  under  his  jurisdiction, 
with  bishops  under  each  metropolitan,  and  a  vast 
army  of  clergy,  with  uncounted  multitudes  of  be- 
lievers scattered  all  the  way  from  Edessa  to  Peking  and 
from  Lake  Balkash  (in  modern  Russia)  to  the  south- 
ern point  of  India.  Neale,  the  competent  English  his- 
torian of  the  Eastern  church,  doubts  whether  the  Pope 
of  Rome  at  this  time  had  more  ecclesiastical  power 
than  the  Patriarch  of  Babylon.  It  is  certain  that  the 
Roman  Church  of  those  days  was  far  inferior  to  the 
Nestorian  in  the  extent  of  its  missionary  endeavor. 
The  Nestorians  have,  in  fact,  never  been  rivalled  in 
that  vital  phase  of  Christian  life,  unless  by  the  Jesuits 
and  the  Moravians. 

78.  Concerning  Arabia  as  a  mission  field  little  is 
known.  It  is  generally  assumed  that  Saul's  three 
years  there  were  for  study,  contemplation  and  ad- 
justment of  soul  to  the  light  which  had  so  dazzled 
him  on  the  way  to  Damascus.  We  can  not  imagine 
him  silent,  however,  as  to  the  new  faith  that  was  in 
him.  But  if,  as  seems  natural  to  suppose,  he  went 
to  that  part  of  Arabia  which  contained  the  lofty  moun- 
tains of  Sinai,  which  had  meant  so  much  to  his  pred- 
ecessors, Moses  and  Elijah  and  to  the  whole  people 
of  Israel,  there  were  few  inhabitants  to  whom  he 
could  communicate  the  gospel.  He  was  shut  up  for 
the  most  part  to  communion  with  the  past  and  with 
his  God. 

In  the  third  century  an  Arabian  emir  sent  to  Alex- 


84  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

andria  an  earnest  request  that  its  great  Christian 
teacher,  Origen,  come  to  give  information  about  Chris- 
tianity. We  cannot  doubt  that  he  responded  by  going 
or  by  sending  some  one  as  a  missionary.  In  A.  D.  244 
ecclesiastical  life  in  Arabia  was  so  far  advanced  that 
a  council  was  called  to  examine  the  theology  of  one 
of  the  pastors,  Beryllus,  of  Bostra.  Origen  attended 
the  council  and  succeeded  in  straightening  out  the 
kinks  of  thought  in  Bostra. 

79.  One  hundred  years  later  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tius  sent  a  splendid  embassy  to  the  Homeritae  who 
occupied  the  southern  coast  of  Arabia  and  believed 
themselves  to  be  descendants  of  Abraham  by  Keturah. 
They  practiced  circumcision  and  they  furnished  a 
refuge  for  Jews  who  had  been  persecuted  elsewhere. 
The  emperor  sent  the  emir  a  missionary,  Theophilus, 
accompanied  by  a  present  of  two  hundred  horses,  and 
requested  permission  to  build  three  churches  in  the 
places  frequented  by  Roman  traders.  The  Arab  ruler 
was  so  well  disposed  that  he  built  the  churches  him- 
self, one  at  Aden ;  one  at  the  capital,  Dafur ;  and  the 
other  on  the  Persian  Gulf.  Theophilus,  however,  was 
a  politician  quite  as  much  as  a  religious  missionary. 
So  far  as  we  have  record  the  Christian  work  was  not 
followed  up. 

80.  If  Saul  as  a  young  convert  had  possessed  the 
peerless  missionary  ability  which  he  afterward  de- 
veloped and  had  plunged  into  the  most  thickly  peopled 
part  of  Arabia,  and  if  Origen  had  devoted  his  magnifi- 
cent powers  to  evangelization  instead  of  to  specula- 
tion, Christianity  might  have  been  so  planted  in  Arabia 


PERSIA.  85 

as  to  supplant  completely  its  gross  idolatry  and  to 
leave  no  need  of  the  monotheistic  reformation  with 
which  Mohammed  began  there  and  no  start  for  the 
career  by  which  he  secured  the  blotting  out  of  half 
the  map  of  Christendom.  Instead  of  being  the  False 
Prophet,  he  might  then  have  become  an  Arabian  Lu- 
ther. Oriental  Christianity  needed  such  an  one  in  his 
day  as  much  as  occidental  Christianity  needed  him  a 
thousand  years  later.  There  is  no  way  of  knowing 
how  much  of  the  reformation  in  religion  which  Mo- 
hammed did  accomplish  was  due  to  Sergius  Bahare 
of  Bostra.  This  degenerate  Nestorian  became  an  inti- 
mate associate  of  the  prophet  and  communicated  to 
him  his  own  poor  apocryphal  knowledge  of  Christ. 

81.  In  the  vast  region  which  we  are  calling  Persia 
there  was  much  missionary  activity  among  the  Tatars 
in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries.  But  that 
is  best  understood  in  connection  with  China  and  Ta- 
tary,  to  be  considered  in  later  chapters.  There  is 
but  one  other  missionary  episode  in  this  region  which 
must  be  noticed  at  present.  In  1747  two  of  the  Mora- 
vian brethren,  Fred  Wm.  Hocker,  a  physician,  and  J. 
Rueffer,  a  surgeon,  set  out  for  a  mission  to  the  fol- 
lowers of  Zoroaster,  a  few  of  whom  remained  in  Per- 
sia, the  Parsees.  When  they  reached  Aleppo,  they 
learned  that  Persia  was  in  a  state  of  practical  anarchy 
and  that  Nadir  Shah  himself  was  extorting  money 
from  Jews  and  Christians  in  his  realm  by  brutal  tor- 
ture. One  of  the  brethren  wavered,  but  the  other  in- 
sisted on  perseverance.  They  procured  two  camels 
and  joined  a  caravan  of  1,500  of  those  ungainly  ships 


86  TWO   THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

of  the  desert.  They  reached  Bagdad  just  in  time  to 
catch  another  caravan  which  was  starting  for  Persia 
with  an  armed  guard  of  half  a  hundred  soldiers. 
Crossing  a  wild  ridge  the  caravan  was  attacked  by 
two  hundred  Kurdish  robbers  and  the  hired  guard 
quickly  retreated.  The  missionaries  were  robbed  of 
everything  and  left  with  scarcely  any  clothing  even. 
One  of  them  was  thrust  in  several  places  with  a  spear 
and  was  finally  knocked  insensible  with  a  club.  He  re- 
covered after  a  time  and  dragged  himself  fifteen 
miles  to  the  nearest  human  habitation,  where  he  found 
his  brother  missionary  in  a  similar  plight.  Kindly 
Persians  supplied  them  with  garments.  These  were  of 
such  coarse  hair-cloth  that  their  bruised  bodies  suf- 
fered agony,  but  they  plodded  on  afoot.  They  were 
overtaken  by  robbers  again,  but  finally  reached  Is- 
pahan. Here  the  English  resident,  Mr.  Pierson,  took 
them  to  his  own  house  and  provided  for  them.  But 
he  showed  them  that  there  was  no  use  of  their  under- 
taking to  go  farther,  since  the  territory  of  the  Parsees 
had  just  been  plundered,  both  by  the  Shah  and  by  the 
Afghans,  and  the  prosperous  remnant  of  one  of  the 
noblest  of  the  non-Christian  faiths  had  been  either  de- 
stroyed or  scattered.  After  many  more  thrilling  ex- 
periences the  brethren  reached  Egypt,  where  one  of 
them  died,  but  the  other,  after  three  years  of  absence, 
at  last  arrived  in  Herrnhiit  to  tell  the  story  to  the  lit- 
tle church  there,  already  accustomed  to  accounts  of 
most  heroic  missionary  endeavor. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


INDIA. 


82.  Characteristics.        83.  The     first     introduction     of 
Christianity.         84.    Pantaenus.  85.      The    Nestorians. 

86.  Monumental  evidence.  87.  The  introduction  of  Ro- 
man Catholic  missions.  88.  Francis  Xavier.  89. 
Robert  de  Nobili.  90.  Beschi  and  Geronimo  Xavier. 
91.  The  testimony  of  Sir  Thomas  Roe.  92.  John  de 
Brito.  93.  Dutch  missions  in  Java.  94.  In  Amboyna. 
95.  In  Ceylon.  96.  The  first  Danish  mission  in  India. 
97.  Christian  Friedrich  Schwartz. 


82.  The  people  of  India  naturally  have  a  more  inti- 
mate interest  for  us  than  any  other  people  outside  of 
Europe  and  European  colonists,  because  they  are  more 
nearly  related  to  us  in  blood.  Their  mother  language, 
Sanskrit,  proves  beyond  a  doubt  that  they  are  of  the 
same  branch  of  the  human  family  to  which  we  belong, 
the  Aryan,  sometimes  descriptively  called  the  Indo- 
European.  They  are  also  marked  in  having  a  more 
refined  and  subtle  intellectual  life  than  any  other  non- 
Christian  people,  except  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  In 
some  directions  their  spiritual  development  surpasses 
that  of  any  other  part  of  the  human  race,  ancient  or 
modern,  Christian  or  non-Christian.  Society,  how- 
ever, is  rigidly  stratified  and  the  masses  of  the  people 

87 


88  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

are  debased  and  imbedded  in  a  low  conglomerate  of 
polytheism.  The  human  soil  of  India,  though  ap- 
parently rich  and  inviting  beyond  all  others,  is  ex- 
tremely hard  to  work.  The  great  harvests  of  nine- 
teenth century  missions  there  have  been  chiefly  from 
the  sub-soil  of  the  non-Aryan  races  in  the  land.  But 
in  the  centuries  with  which  we  have  to  do  in  the  pres- 
ent course  of  study  there  were  many  faithful  toilers. 
We  must  notice  five  distinct  plantings  of  Chris- 
tianity in  India  before  Carey,  the  Primitive,  the  Nes- 
torian,  the  Romish,  the  Dutch  Presbyterian,  and  the 
Danish  Lutheran  plantings. 

83.  India  was  known  to  the  ancients,  was  conquered 
by  Alexander,  i.  e.,  the  northern  borders  of  it,  and  is 
mentioned  in  the  book  of  Esther.  It  has  been  con- 
jectured, though  without  proof,  that  in  the  account 
of  the  Day  of  Pentecost  we  should  read  Indian  instead 
of  "Judean" — the  words  are  more  alike  in  Greek  than 
in  English.  It  is  clear  from  their  names  that  many 
of  the  articles  of  commerce  in  Solomon's  day  came 
from  India.  It  is  certain  also  that  there  was  a  colony 
of  Jews  in  India  from  whom  representatives  might 
have  come  at  Pentecost.  Tradition  asserts  that  the 
Apostle  Thomas  went  as  a  missionary  to  India.  A 
Christian  community  which  has  existed  there  from 
early  times  bears  his  name  and  even  shows  his  grave. 

84.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Christianity 
was  taken  to  India  in  the  first  century.  But  the  first 
positive  name  and  date  on  record  belongs  to  the 
second  century,  Pantaenus,  between  180  and  190  A.  D. 
Pantaenus  was  a  stoic  philospher  who  had  become  a 


INDIA.  89 

Christian  and  the  head  of  a  famous  Christian  college 
in  Alexandria,  Egypt.  His  pupils,  Clement  and  Ori- 
gen,  were  among  the  greatest  of  early  Christian  teach- 
ers and  writers.  Clement  says  that  Pantaenus  was 
"a  man  of  learning  who  had  penetrated  most  pro- 
foundly into  the  spirit  of  Scripture."  Eusebius  says 
that  he  "was  distinguished  as  an  expositor  of  the 
Word  of  God."  Jerome,  in  one  of  his  letters,  says 
"Pantaenus  was  sent  to  India  that  he  might  preach 
Christ  among  the  Brahmins."  He  found  Christians 
already  there  and  using  an  early  edition  of  the  Gospel 
of  Matthew,  from  which  he  brought  back  a  copy  to 
Alexandria.  There  is  no  means  of  knowing  the  ex- 
tent of  the  work  of  the  primitive  missionaries  in  India. 
At  the  council  of  Nice  (A.  D.  325)  there  was  pres- 
ent a  "Bishop  of  India."  He  was  really  Bishop  in  Per- 
sia. As  India  had  been  included  in  the  Persian  Em- 
pire, the  Christians  there  were  counted  within  his 
jurisdiction. 

85.  In  the  last  chapter  we  saw  how  the  Nestorians 
were  scattered  throughout  Asia.  If  now  we  turn  to  a 
native  Hindoo  history  of  the  Malabar  coast,  India, 
we  find  that  one  Thomas  Cannaneo,  a  Syrian,  was 
allowed  by  one  of  the  Rajas  to  settle  there.  He  be- 
came very  wealthy  and  was  the  progenitor  of  a  nu- 
merous family.  Again  two  Syrian  Bishops,  Mai 
Sapor  and  Mar  Peroses,  were  extremely  well  received 
by  a  Raja  and  were  permitted  to  build  a  church. 

The  tradition  of  the  Malabar  Christians,  often 
called  the  St.  Thomas  Christians,  is  that  the  Thomas 
who  led  their  forefathers  to  Christ  was  the  Apostle 


90  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

of  that  name.  But  it  was,  doubtless,  some  later 
Thomas,  probably  one  of  the  Nestorians  leading  a 
band  of  that  sect  after  it  was  driven  from  the  Greek 
Roman  Empire  by  the  Emperor  Theodosius.  The 
current  names  and  customs  of  the  people,  their  use 
of  a  form  of  the  Syrian  language,  their  well-known 
later  ecclesiastical  relations  and  other  data,  leave  no 
question  that  the  main  evangelizing  agency  was  Nes- 
torian.  In  the  sixth  century  an  Egyptian  merchant, 
Cosmas,  surnamed  Indicopleustes  (Indian  Voyager), 
turned  monk  and  wrote  vivid  accounts  of  what  he  had 
learned.  His  work,  entitled  "Topographia  Chris- 
tiania,"  is  an  invaluable  record  of  the  early  spread  of 
Christianity.     He  says: 

"So  that  I  can  speak  with  confidence  of  the  truth  of  what 
I  say,  relating  what  I  myself  have  seen  and  heard  in  many 
places  that  I  have  visited.  .  .  .  Even  in  the  Island 
of  Taprobane  [Ceylon],  in  Farther  India,  where  the  Indian 
Sea  is,  there  is  a  church  of  Christians  with  clergy  and  a  con- 
gregation of  believers,  though  I  know  not  if  there  be  any 
Christians  farther  on  in  that  direction,  and  such  is  also  the 
case  in  the  land  called  Male,  where  the  pepper  grows.  And 
in  the  place  called  Kalliana  [Malabar],  there  is  a  bishop 
appointed  from  Persia  as  well  as  in  the  isle  called  the  Isle 
of  Dioscoris  [Socotra],  in  the  same  Indian  Sea.  The  in- 
habitants of  that  island  speak  Greek,  having  been  originally 
settled  there  by  the  Ptolemies  who  ruled  after  Alexander  of 
Macedon.  There  are  clergy  there  also  ordained  and  sent 
from  Persia  to  minister  among  the  people  of  the  island  and  a 
multitude  of  Christians.  We  sailed  past  the  island,  but  did 
not  land.  I  met,  however,  with  people  from  it  who  were  on 
their  way  to  Ethiopia,  and  they  spoke  Greek." 

These  words  were  written  not  later  than  547  A.  D. 

Many  of  the  early  Nestorian  converts  were  from 


'  '■''dKS 


K^^^^^^^M 


NESTORIAN  TABLET  OF  INDIA. 

(  SEVENTH   CENTURY) 


INDIA.  91 

the  Brahmin  and  another  of  the  highest  of  the  Hindoo 
castes.  For  centuries  the  Christian  community  en- 
joyed great  liberty  and  prosperity. 

86.  A  precious  monument  of  the  work  of  the  Nes- 
torian  missionaries  was  unearthed  near  Madras  about 
the  year  1547.  It  is  an  altar  slab  with  a  dove  hover- 
ing over  a  cross  cut  in  relief.  On  the  margin  are  in- 
scriptions belonging  to  the  seventh  or  eighth  centuries, 
one  in  Syriac,  "Let  me  not  glory  except  in  the  cross 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  and  one  in  Pahlavi,  "Who 
is  the  true  Messiah  and  God  alone  and  Holy  Ghost." 
A  more  impressive  monument  of  Nestorian  missions  is 
the  continued  existence  of  Malabar  Christians.  One 
thousand  years  after  the  first  Nestorian  planting  in 
India  the  Portuguese  found  there  one  hundred  villages 
composed  entirely  of  Nestorian  Christians,  and  in  all 
the  country  1,400  churches,  with  200,000  souls.  These 
people  paid  a  slight  tribute  to  the  Rajas,  but  were 
governed  in  matters  both  temporal  and  spiritual  by 
their  own  archbishop,  who  received  ordination  from 
the  Nestorian  patriarch  in  Persia.  They  used  Syriac 
in  all  their  church  services,  permitted  their  priests  to 
marry  and  admitted  no  images  in  their  simple  meet- 
ing-houses. Through  native  political  oppression  and 
through  still  more  shameful  Romish  persecution  they 
had  been  reduced  by  the  time  of  Carey  to  116  churches 
all  told,  eighty-four  united  to  Rome  and  thirty-two 
still  independent.  They  recovered  somewhat  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  so  that  they  are  as  numerous  now 
as  they  were  four  hundred  years  ago,  when  the  Portu- 
guese unhappily  discovered  them.    It  is  a  pleasure  to 


92  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

know  that  the  census  of  British  India  in  1891  found 
200,467  souls  as  a  living  monument  of  the  early  Nes- 
torian  missions. 

87.  During  the  Middle  Ages  a  number  of  Francis- 
can and  Dominican  monks  visited  India  with  more  or 
less  vagrant  missionary  aims.  But  one  need  be  men- 
tioned here.  Jordanus,  a  Dominican,  was  sent  out  in 
1430  as  a  real  missionary  bishop.  He  wrote  a  book  on 
the  "Wonders  of  the  East."  The  following  passages 
indicate  the  temper  of  his  work : 

"In  this  India  there  is  a  scattered  people,  one  here,  another 
there,  who  call  themselves  Christians,  but  are  not  so,  nor 
have  they  baptism,  nor  do  they  know  anything  else  about 
the  faith;  nay,  they  believe  St.  Thomas  the  Great  to  be 
Christ !  There,  in  the  India  I  speak  of,  I  baptized  and  brought 
into  the  faith  about  three  hundred  souls,  of  whom  many  were 
idolaters  and  Saracens.  And  let  me  tell  you  that  among  the 
idolaters  a  man  may  with  safety  expound  the  Word  of  the 
Lord;  nor  is  any  one  among  the  idolaters  hindered  from 
being  baptized  throughout  all  the  East,  whether  they  be  Ta- 
tars, or  Indians  or  what  not ! 

"As  God  is  my  witness,  ten  times  better  [Christians]  and 
more  charitable  withal  be  those  who  be  converted  by  the 
Preaching  Minor  friars  to  our  faith  than  our  folk  here,  as  ex- 
perience hath  taught  me.  And  of  the  conversion  of  those  nations 
of  India  I  say  this,  that  if  there  be  two  hundred  or  three  hun- 
dred good  friars  who  would  faithfully  and  fervently  preach  the 
Catholic  faith,  there  is  not  a  year  which  would  not  see  more 
than  X.  thousand  persons  converted  to  the  Christian  faith. 
For  whilst  I  was  among  these  schismatics  and  unbelievers,  I 
believe  that  more  than  X.  thousand,  or  thereabouts,  were  con- 
verted to  our  faith ;  and  because  we,  being  few  in  number, 
could  not  occupy  or  even  visit  many  parts  of  the  land,  many 
souls  (woe  is  me!)  have  perished,  and  exceeding  many  do 
perish   for  lack   of  preachers   of  the   Word    of    the    Lord. 


INDIA.  93 

How  many  times  have  I  had  my  hair  plucked  out 
and  been  scourged  and  been  stoned  God  Himself  knoweth  and 
I,  who  had  to  bear  all  this  for  my  sins,  yet  have  not  attained  to 
end  my  life  as  a  martyr  for  the  faith  as  did  four  of  my  breth- 
ren. Nay,  five  Preaching  friars  and  four  Minors  were  there  in 
my  time  cruelly  slain  for  the  Catholic  faith.  Woe  is  me  that  I 
was  not  with  them  there!" 

88.  Portuguese  Christianity,  as  we  shall  see  later, 
did  splendid  work  during  the  sixteenth  century  in 
Africa  and  in  South  America.  But  in  India  it  was 
marred  by  its  more  than  wasted,  its  wicked  and  de- 
structive, efforts  to  bring  over  the  Syrian  Christians 
to  the  Roman  rite.  It  annihilated  more  than  it  pros- 
elyted. The  story  is  full  of  thrilling  and  sickening 
episodes.  But  we  draw  the  veil  over  such  so-called 
mission  work.  It  was  not  planting.  It  was,  at  the 
best,  only  transplanting.     It  was  mainly  uprooting. 

The  record  of  Portuguese  Romanism  in  India,  how- 
ever, is  partly  redeemed  by  the  brilliant  career,  under 
its  auspices,  of  the  first  and  most  famous  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary to  the  heathen,  Francis  Xavier.  It  is  true 
that  it  was  he  who  suggested  the  introduction  of  the 
Inquisition  in  India.  It  is  true  that  he  never  learned 
the  language  of  the  natives.  It  is  true  that  he  was  too 
restless  to  stay  long  enough  in  one  place  to  do  per- 
manently effectual  work.  It  is  true  that  he  was  loaded 
down  with  the  superstitions  of  his  time.  But  it  is  also 
true  that  he  burned  with  genuine  zeal  for  souls  and 
that  he  took  through  India,  Malacca,  Japan  and  to  the 
gates  of  China  the  first  flaming  torch  of  modern  times 
to  announce  the  Light  of  the  World.  He  had  a  con- 
suming love  for  his  benighted  fellows  and  so  was  a 


94  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

man  after  God's  own  heart.  He  was  so  high  in  heroic 
purpose  that  he  flamed  as  a  heavenly  meteor  not  only 
across  the  continent  of  Asia,  but  also  above  the  horizon 
of  sleepy  Christendom.  It  was  he,  more  than  any 
one  man  before  Carey,  who  started  the  beacon  fires 
of  missions,  which,  after  four  hundred  years,  are  to 
be  seen  ablaze  on  every  mountain  range  of  the  earth 
and  glowing  in  almost  every  valley. 

Five  young  Spaniards,  including  Xavier,  together 
with  one  Frenchman  and  one  Portuguese,  all  students 
in  the  University  of  Paris,  had  pledged  one  another 
to  undertake  a  mission  to  the  Mohammedans  in  Pales- 
tine, or  if  not  practicable  there,  then  wherever  the 
Pope  might  send  them.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
"Company  of  Jesus,"  as  it  was  soon  after  named.  Ig- 
natius Loyola,  the  first  "General"  of  the  order,  had 
been  a  soldier,  and  he  formed  his  missionary  band  on 
lines  of  the  strictest  military  and  more  severe  than 
military  discipline.  According  to  the  ultimate  consti- 
tution, thirty-one  years  were  to  be  spent  by  every 
candidate  in  a  course  of  training  of  which  the  central 
principle  was  the  obliteration  of  self-will  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  the  will  of  the  General,  which  was  assumed 
to  be  the  will  of  God.  In  this  way  the  lofty  motto 
of  the  company  was  to  be  made  effective,  "For  the 
Greater  Glory  of  God." 

One  day  in  1540  Francis  Xavier  received  orders  to 
start  the  next  day  for  a  mission  to  India,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  king  of  Portugal.  He  arrived  at  Goa, 
the  Portuguese  settlement,  two  years  later,  after  a 
distressing  voyage  in  which,  though  sick  himself  much 


INDIA.  95 

of  the  time,  he  had  been  a  ministering  angel  to  the 
rough  and  wicked  soldiers  with  whom  he  sailed.  He 
immediately  began  work  by  ringing  a  large  bell 
through  the  streets  of  Goa  and  urging  that  children 
be  sent  to  him  for  instruction  in  the  Christian  religion. 
After  five  months  he  went  to  the  pearl  fisheries,  on 
the  Gulf  of  Manor,  and  for  fifteen  months  lived  in 
close  brotherhood  with  the  low  caste,  degraded  people, 
ringing  his  bell,  ministering  to  all  and  preparing  a 
catechism  for  their  instruction.  His  next  mission  was 
in  the  kingdom  of  Travancore,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  southern  point  of  India.  Here  he  established  over 
forty  missionary  stations  and  in  a  single  month  bap- 
tized ten  thousand  natives.  So  the  story  runs.  Then 
he  labored  for  a  time  in  the  Malay  Peninsula  and  Archi- 
pelago.   Large  successes  are  attributed  to  him  there. 

89.  One  of  the  most  famous,  some  think  infamous, 
successors  of  X,avier  in  India  was  Robert  de  Nobili. 
He  was  a  man  of  aristocratic  birth,  a  nephew  of  Car- 
dinal Bellarmine  and  a  grandnephew  of  Pope  Mar- 
cellus  II.  He  carried  the  principle  of  becoming  all 
things  to  all  men  that  he  might  save  some,  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  lay  himself  open  to  the  accusation  of  sur- 
rendering both  Christianity  and  truth  itself.  He  made 
himself  master  of  the  language  and  the  religious  litera- 
ture of  the  natives  and  then  conformed  strictly  to  the 
social  requirements  of  caste,  living  the  life  of  a  rigid, 
ascetic  Brahmin  devotee,  but  inculcating  Christian- 
ity. He  came  to  have  numerous  converts.  A  Capuchin 
missionary,  who  was  afterward  expelled  from  his  own 
order,  published  in  Europe  a  book  in  which  he  accused 


96  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Nobili  and  the  Jesuits  of  unblushing  fraud  upon  the 
natives.  Most  Protestant  writers,  though  not  all,  have 
fully  credited  the  charges  of  the  Capuchin  and  have 
diligently  repeated  them.  The  Pope  and  others  of 
Rome  for  a  time  accepted  them  as  containing  much 
truth,  but  finally  ecclesiastical  censure  was  removed. 
Nobili  certainly  conformed  to  Hindoo  social  and  theo- 
logical requirements  in  a  way  which  no  conscientious 
and  democratic  Christian  could  possibly  allow.  But 
he  is  entitled  to  state  his  own  case: 

"Besides  my  manner  of  life,  my  food  and  costume,  and  my 
using  exclusively  the  services  of  Brahmins,  there  is  another 
circumstance  which  aids  me  powerfully  in  making  conversions ; 
it  is  the  knowledge  which  I  have  acquired  of  their  most 
secret  books.  I  find  it  stated  in  them  that  their  country 
originally  possessed  four  laws,  or  vedas;  that  three  of  these 
laws  are  those  which  the  Brahmins  still  teach  at  the  present 
day,  and  that  the  fourth  was  a  purely  spiritual  law  by  virtue 
of  which  it  was  possible  to  attain  the  salvation  of  the  soul. 

"I  take  occasion  to  point  out  to  them,  that  they  are  living  in 
fatal  error,  that  neither  of  the  three  vedas  which  they  recog- 
nize has  power  to  save  them ;  that  in  consequence  all  their 
efforts  are  vain,  and  this  I  prove  to  them  by  citing  the  very 
words  of  their  sacred  books.  These  people  have  an  ardent 
desire  of  eternal  happiness,  and  in  order  to  merit  it  devote 
themselves  to  penance,  alms  deeds,  and  the  worship  of  idols. 
I  profit  by  this  disposition  to  tell  them  that  if  they  wish  to 
obtain  salvation,  they  must  listen  to  my  instructions ;  that  I 
have  come  from  a  remote  country  with  the  sole  object  of 
bringing  salvation  to  them,  by  teaching  them  that  spiritual  law 
which,  by  the  confessions  of  their  Brahmins,  they  have  wholly 
lost.  I  thus  adapt  myself  to  their  opinions,  after  the  example 
of  the  Apostle,  who  preached  to  the  Athenians  the  Unknown 
God." 


INDIA,  97 

In  the  Madura  mission,  of  which  Nobili  was  the 
head,  100,000  converts  were  gathered.  At  our  dis- 
tance in  time  and  standards  it  is  impossible  to  say  to 
what  extent  they  were  really  converted.  In  one  re- 
spect only  can  we  be  sure  that  Nobili  and  his  fellow- 
workers  were  right;  that  was  in  making  themselves 
masters  of  the  point  of  view  of  the  people  whom  they 
sought  to  save. 

90.  Constantios  Beschi,  like  Nobili,  adopted  the 
mode  of  life  of  a  Brahmin  penitent.  He  was  one  of 
the  greatest  Tamil  scholars  in  India  and  was  so  re- 
garded by  the  literati.  The  Nabob  Tricheropalle  made 
him  his  prime  minister. 

Geronimo  Xavier,  a  nephew  of  Francis,  was  em- 
ployed at  the  court  of  Akbar,  the  great  Mogul  em- 
peror of  India — who,  though  a  Mohammedan,  was 
somewhat  of  an  eclectic  in  religion — to  write  for  him 
"Persian  Histories  of  Christ  and  of  Peter."  The  ac- 
count given  by  Akbar's  minister,  Abulfazl,  is  inter- 
esting : 

"Learned  monks  also  came  from  Europe,   who  go  by  the 
name  of  Padre.     They  have  an  infallible  head  called   Papa. 
He  can  change  any  religious  ordinances  as  he  may  think  ad- 
visable,  and  kings  have  to   submit  to   his   authority.     These 
monks   brought   the   gospel    and   mentioned   to   the    Emperor 
their  proofs  for  the  Trinity.     His  Majesty  firmly  believed  in 
the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  wishing  to  spread  the 
doctrines  of  Jesus,  ordered  Prince  Murad  to  take  a  few  les- 
sons in  Christianity  by   way  of  auspiciousness,   and  charged 
Abulfazl  to  translate  the  gospel.      Instead  of  the  usual  Bis- 
millah-irrahmanirrahim,   the  following  lines  were  used — 
Ai  nam  i  tu  Jesus  0  Kiristo, 
(O  Thou  whose  names  are  Jesus  and  Christ), 
which  means,  'O  thou,  whose  name  is  gracious  and  blessed'; 


98  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

and  Shaikh   Faizi  added  another  half  in   order  to   complete 
the  verse — 

Subhanaka  la  sizvaka  Ya  Hu 
(We  praise  Thee,  there  is  no  one  besides  Thee,  O  God!)" 

One  of  the  wives  of  Akbar  was  a  Christian  and  some 
iof  the  Princes  were  baptized. 

91.  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  Sir  Thomas  Roe 
visited  the  court  of  the  Great  Mogul  as  an  ambassador 
of  England.  Thus  we  have  a  contemporary  Protestant 
view  of  the  Jesuit  missions.  The  quaint  and  simple 
statements  of  the  recorder  of  the  embassy  do  credit  to 
his  own  fairness  as  well  as  to  the  work  of  the  Jesuits : 
-  "In  this  Confusion  they  Continued  vntil  the  tyme  of  Ecbar- 
sha,  father  of  this  king,  without  any  Noice  of  Christian  pro- 
fession; who,  beeing  a  Prince  by  Nature  just  and  good,  in- 
quisitiue  after  Noueltyes.  Curious  of  New  opinions,  and  that 
excelled  in  many  virtues,  especially  in  Pietye  and  reuerence 
toward  his  Parentes,  called  in  three  Iesuites  from  Goa,  whose 
cheefe  was  Ieronimo  Xauier  a  Naurroies.  After  their  ar- 
riuall  hee  heard  them  reason  and  dispute  with  much  Content 
on  his  and  hope  on  their  partes,  and  caused  Xauier  to  write  a 
booke  in  defence  of  his  owne  profession  against  both  moores 
and  Gentilles;  which  finished,  hee  read  ouer  Nightly,  causing 
some  part  to  be  discussed,  and  finally  granted  them  his  lettre 
Pattentes  to  build,  to  preach,  teach,  conuert,  and  to  vse  all 
their  rites  and  Ceremonyes,  as  freely  and  amply  as  in  Roome, 
bestoweing  on  them  meanes  to  erect  their  Churches  and  places 
of  deuotion.  So  that  in  some  fewe  cittyes  they  haue  gotten 
rather  Tern  plum  then  Ecclesiam.  In  this  Grant  he  gaue  grant 
to  all  sortes  of  men  to  become  Christians  that  would,  eauen 
to  his  Court  or  owne  blood,  professing  it  should  bee  noe 
cause  of  disfauaour  from  him.  Here  was  a  faire  beginninge, 
a  forward  spring  of  a  leane  and  barren  haruest. 

"Ecbar-shae  himselfe  continued  a  Mahometan,  yet  hee  began 
to  make  a  breach  into  the  law;   Considering  that  Mahomett 


INDIA.  99 

was  but  a  man,  a  King  as  he  was,  and  therefore  reuerenced, 
he  thought  hee  might  proue  as  good  a  Prophett  himselfe.  This 
defection  of  the  King  spread  not  farre;  a  Certayn  outward 
reuerence  deteyned  him,  and  so  hee  dyed  in  the  formall  pro- 
fession of  his  Sect." 

92.  John  de  Brito,  a  Portuguese  nobleman,  who  had 
great  difficulty  in  securing  the  king's  permission  to 
leave  his  personal  service,  came  to  be  one  of  the  most 
devoted  and  successful  of  the  missionaries  in  India, 
where  he  toiled  for  twenty  years,  suffering  terrible 
tortures  and  finally  death  for  Christ.  He  had  bap- 
tized many  thousands,  four  thousand  the  last  year  of 
his  life.  This  was  more  than  one  hundred  years  after 
Xavier,  whose  work  had  inspired  the  youthful  imagi- 
nation of  De  Brito  and  had  led  him  into  the  foreign 
field.  Xavier  had  a  long  line  of  brilliant  successors 
in  India.  There  were  nearly  a  million  of  Roman 
Catholics  there  when  Carey  arrived. 

93.  In  1610  the  Dutch  came  into  possession  of  a 
portion  of  the  populous  island  of  Java.  The  capital 
of  all  their  possessions  in  the  Indian  Ocean  was  estab- 
lished there  at  Batavia. 

Justus  Heurnius  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  early  Dutch  missionaries.  Son  of  a  medical 
professor  in  the  newly  founded  University  of  Leyden, 
he  took  the  medical  course  of  study.  After  five  years 
of  travel  in  France  and  England  he  returned  and  took 
a  theological  course.  He  was  eager  to  go  to  India  as 
a  missionary,  but  both  the  Dutch  and  the  English 
East  India  Companies  were  opposed  to  missions  until 
long  after  this  time.  He  wrote  a  vigorous  book  to 
arouse  his  countrymen  to  their  missionary  duty.    This 


IOO  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

was  in  1618.  Six  years  later  the  East  India  Company 
sent  him  to  Batavia.  He  began  at  once  to  work  for 
the  natives,  both  Malays  and  Chinese.  He  translated 
the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Ten  Command- 
ments into  Chinese,  making  also  a  Dutch-Latin-Chi- 
nese dictionary. 

His  earnest  evangelistic  spirit  led  him  to  advocate 
the  independence  of  the  church  from  the  East  India 
Company.  On  this  account  he  was  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned. On  release  he  went  to  the  Island  of  Am- 
boyna.  Here  and  in  neighboring  islands  he  gave  him- 
self to  work  among  the  natives.  He  won  many  of  the 
people  for  whom  he  toiled.  Missionaries  of  Islam  were 
active  there  at  the  same  time  and  poisoned  his  food. 
Though  it  did  not  take  his  life  immediately,  he  never 
entirely  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  poison  and 
was  obliged  to  return  to  Holland.  There,  before  his 
death  in  1652,  he  revised  a  version  of  the  Gospels  and 
translated  the  Acts,  the  Psalms  and  a  liturgy  into  Ma- 
layan. He  also  prepared  a  dictionary  and  put  some  of 
the  Psalms  into  Malayan  rhymes.  He  was  a  devoted 
missionary  and  an  efficient  advocate  of  missions  one 
hundred  years  earlier  than  the  Moravians. 

The  best  thing  that  the  Dutch  did  in  Java  was  to 
translate  the  Scriptures  into  the  Malay  language  and 
to  publish  them  there  in  the  Arabic  character  in  1758. 
But  the  missions  do  not  appear  to  have  made  a  deep 
impression  on  either  the  heathen  or  the  followers  of 
Mohammed,  though  there  came  to  be  100,000  nominal 
converts  in  Java.  Islam  has  made  more  converts  from 
heathenism  than  Christianity  has  made  in  Dutch  India. 


INDIA.  IOI 

94.  In  the  Island  of  Amboyna,  in  1686,  it  is  said  that 
the  inhabitants,  both  pagans  and  Mohammedans,  sub- 
mitted to  baptism,  so  that  one  missionary  had  30,000 
converts. 

The  Dutch  admiral,  Stavorinus,  however,  who  vis- 
ited Dutch  India  near  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, sums  up  the  religious  history  of  those  regions 
during  some  hundreds  of  years,  in  a  most  discouraging 

way: 

"The  Amboynese,"  he  says,  "were  in  former  times,  as  the 
Alforese  are  at  present,  idolators;  but  the  Javanese,  who  be- 
gan to  trade  hither  in  the  latter  end  of  the  fifteenth,  and  in 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  endeavored  to  dissem- 
inate the  doctrines  of  Mahomet  here,  and  they  succeeded  so 
well  that  in  the  year  1515,  that  religion  was  generally  re- 
ceived. 

"The  Portuguese  arriving  here  in  the  meantime  endeavored 
likewise  to  make  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  agreeable  to 
the  inhabitants,  and  to  propagate  it  amongst  them ;  which,  in 
particular,  took  place,  according  to  Rumphius,  in  the  year 
1532,  on  the  peninsula  of  Leytimor,  but  those  of  Hitoe  have, 
to  the  present  day,  remained  firmly  attached  to  the  Mahomedan 
faith,  whence,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Leytimorese,  they 
are  called  Moors. 

"When  our  people  came  to  Amboyna,  and  the  Portuguese 
were  expelled  from  the  island,  the  Protestant  religion  was 
gradually  introduced;  yet  the  unpleasing  result  of  these  fre- 
quent changes  of  religion  has  been,  as  might  naturally  be  ex- 
pected, that,  from  blind  idolators,  they  have  first  become  bad 
Roman  Catholics  and  afterwards  worse  Protestants.  The 
practice  of  idolatry  can  not  yet  be  wholly  eradicated;  this, 
added  to  the  prevalence  of  the  superstitions  which  disgrace 
Christianity  among  the  followers  of  the  Roman  Catholic  per- 
suasion, and  the  almost  universal  negligence  and  want  of 
zeal  of  our  ecclesiastics  in  these  regions,  almost  entirely  takes 
away   the   hope   that  the   salutary   doctrines   of   the   gospel 


102  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS   OF   MISSIONS. 

will  ever  be  deeply  rooted  here,  and  that  the  Amboynese  will 
ever  be  cured  of  their  deplorable  blindness." 

Stavorinus  says  that  when  the  number  of  Reformed 
Church  ministers  in  Java  was  counted  complete  there 
were  twelve  of  them,  "six  of  whom  preach  in  the 
Dutch,  four  in  the  Portuguese  and  two  in  the  Malay 
languages.'"  Thus  but  two  were  in  the  strictest  sense 
missionaries. 

95.  After  1658  the  Dutch  held  sway  in  Ceylon  for 
one  hundred  and  forty  years,  having  largely  displaced 
the  Portuguese.  They  displaced  them  in  ecclesiastical 
as  well  as  in  political  relations  to  the  natives.  The 
Dutch  were  as  intense  and  as  determined  in  their  re- 
ligious convictions  as  were  the  Portuguese.  One 
wishes  that  it  could  be  said  that  these  Calvinists  were 
more  Christlike  in  spirit  than  the  Jesuits  had  been.  In 
both  cases  the  colonial  government  was  brutal  to  the 
last  degree.  At  the  same  time  it  required  the  natives 
to  profess  the  Christian  faith.  In  Ceylon  Buddhists 
were  informed  by  proclamation  that  'baptism,  com- 
munion in  the  State  Church,  and  subscription  to  the 
Helvetic  Confession,  were  essential  preliminaries  not 
only  to  appointment  to  office,  but  even  to  farming 
land.'  Natives  of  Ceylon  who  had  been  brought  into 
the  Church  of  Rome  by  force  and  by  worldly  in- 
ducements, were  now  made  Presbyterians  by  similar 
means.  They  were  required  to  repeat  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  the  ten  commandments,  a  morning  and  even- 
ing prayer  and  a  grace  before  and  after  meals.  When 
the  school  teachers  certified  that  they  had  memorized 
these,  they  were  baptized.     The  missionaries  did  not 


INDIA.  I03 

know  their  language.  In  this  way  40,000  were  "con- 
verted1' in  four  years.  There  were  generally  only  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  ministers  in  the  island  for  the  work 
among  natives,  colonists  and  all. 

In  the  line  of  education,  however,  the  Dutch  were 
truer  to  the  qualities  which  made  them  in  Holland 
the  world's  foremost  champions  of  light  and  liberty. 
They  divided  Ceylon  into  two  hundred  and  forty 
parishes,  with  a  school  for  boys  in  each  parish,  and 
established  an  academy  for  the  education  of  teachers 
and  evangelists.  Some  native  ministers  were  educated 
in  Europe.  Each  school  had  three  or  four  teachers 
if  needed.  Over  every  ten  schools  a  catechist  was 
placed  to  visit  and  examine  monthly  the  schools  in 
his  charge.  One  of  the  Dutch  ministers  was  assigned 
a  larger  district  for  superintendence  and  annual  in- 
spection. They  also  provided  the  foundations  of  a 
Christian  literature,  even  publishing  the  whole  New 
Testament  and  the  Book  of  Genesis  in  Cingalese  in 
1783.  Baldaeus,  one  of  the  best  known  ministers, 
wrote  a  description  of  the  country  in  which  he  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  thirty-four  churches  for  the  na- 
tives, with  cuts  of  several  meeting-houses,  which  were 
at  the  same  time  school-houses.  The  "hearers"  in 
these  thirty-four  parishes  number  30,950  and  the 
"scholars"  16,460. 

In  1722  there  were  counted  in  the  Dutch  churches  in 
the  East  Indias  424,392  natives.  Besides  the  chief  cen- 
ters already  named,  mission  work  was  done  by  the 
Dutch  in  Sumatra,  Timor,  Celebes,  Bonda,  Terante 
and  the  Moluccas.  On  Formosa  see  §§  177-184. 


104  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

96.  The  first  Danish  missions  to  India  were  sent 
early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The  chaplain  of  the 
King  of  Denmark,  Liitken,  had  been  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  the  earnest  religious  life  known  as  Pietism,  in 
the  University  of  Halle,  Germany.  He  stirred  the  king 
with  a  feeling  of  moral  obligation  to  his  non-Christian 
subjects  in  the  Danish  colonies.  The  chaplain  was  au- 
thorized to  find  suitable  men  for  a  mission  to  the 
heathen  and  to  undertake  the  work  with  them.  He 
obtained  at  Halle,  Bartholomew  Ziegenbalg  and  Henry 
Plutschau.  After  a  trying  seven  months'  voyage  they 
arrived  at  the  Danish  port  of  Tranquebar,  in  1706.  This 
was  150  miles  south  of  Madras  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  peninsula  of  India  from  the  principal  fields  culti- 
vated by  Xavier  more  than  sixty  years  before.  The  mis- 
sionaries put  themselves  to  school  with  children,  learn- 
ing to  write  the  Tamil  alphabet  in  the  sand.  Ziegen- 
balg  made  such  rapid  progress  that  in  two  years  he 
began  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  and  a  year 
later  could  speak  the  language  with  fluency. 

As  has  generally  been  true  in  the  history  of 
early  modern  foreign  missions,  the  European 
colonists  were  far  more  obstructive  to  the 
work  than  the  pagan  natives  themselves.  The 
Danish  governor  of  Tranquebar  at  the  outset 
treated  the  missionaries  with  harshness  and  finally 
cast  Ziegenbalg  into  prison,  where  he  lay  suffering 
intensely  from  the  tropical  heat  for  four  months.  It 
.was  only  the  absolute  mandate  of  the  Danish  king 
which  secured  any  chance  whatever  for  the  work.  Be- 


INDIA.  IO5 

ginning  with  outcast  slaves,  converts  were  gathered 
and  a  church  was  formed.  Ziegenbalg  died  after  thir- 
teen years  of  service  for  India.  But  he  had  translated 
and  scattered  abroad  the  New  Testament,  prepared  a 
dictionary  and  many  religious  tracts,  thirty-three  in 
all.  He  left  355  converts.  The  mission  continued 
under  the  patronage  of  the  kings  of  Denmark  for  120 
years.  It  is  still  maintained  by  the  Leipsic  Mission 
Society  with  a  fair  degree  of  success. 

87.  Christian  Friedrich  Schwartz,  consecrated  in 
childhood  by  his  dying  mother  to  the  service  of  Christ 
and  educated  at  the  University  of  Halle,  arrived  at 
Tranquebar  in  1750.  He  had  partly  learned  the  Tamil 
language  from  a  returned  missionary  at  Halle,  so  that 
in  only  four  months  after  his  arrival  in  India  he  was 
able  to  preach  his  first  sermon  to  the  natives  in  the 
church  which  had  been  dedicated  just  before  the  death 
of  Ziegenbalg,  thirty  years  earlier.  After  fifteen  very 
useful  years  he  was  transferred  to  Trichinopoli,  in  the 
interior.  Here,  too,  he  lived  and  toiled  in  apostolic 
simplicity,  "his  daily  fare  a  dish  of  boiled  rice  with  a 
few  other  vegetables."  He  was  "clad  in  a  piece  of 
dark  cotton  cloth  woven  and  cut  after  the  fashion  of 
the  country."  At  the  end  of  twelve  years  he  had  bap- 
tized 1,238  converts,  built  an  orphan  asylum  with  his 
salary  of  $500  a  year  received  as  chaplain  of  the  Brit- 
ish garrison,  and,  by  the  aid  of  the  commandant  and 
others,  built  a  church-house  accommodating  2,000 
people. 

The  last  twenty  years  of  his  apostolate  he  spent  in 
Tanjore,  a  center  of  Hindu  worship,  containing  one 


106  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

of  the  most  stately  pagodas  of  India.  Within  four 
years  two  churches  were  established.  The  moral  char- 
acter of  Schwartz  was  so  commanding  that  all  classes, 
both  native  and  foreign,  held  him  in  the  highest  es- 
teem and  even  reverence.  On  the  occasion  of  a  formi- 
dable native  uprising  under  the  haughty  Mohamme- 
dan Hyder  AH,  that  potentate  refused  to  treat  with 
an  English  embassy,  but  said,  "Send  me  the  Christian. 
He  will  not  deceive  me/'  He  meant  Schwartz,  and  no 
nobler  tribute  was  ever  paid  to  Christian  character. 
The  humble  missionary  went  and  saved  thousands  of 
lives  by  his  intercession.  The  Rajah  of  Tanjore  made 
Schwartz  the  guardian  of  his  adopted  son  and  heir, 
Serfogee.  The  slab  in  the  chapel  over  his  grave  says, 
in  part,  "His  natural  vivacity  won  the  affection,  as  his 
unspotted  probity  and  purity  of  life  alike  commanded 
the  reverence,  of  the  Christian,  Mohammedan  and 
Hindu.  The  very  marble  that  here  records  his  virtues 
was  raised  by  the  liberal  affection  and  esteem  of  the 
Rajah  of  Tanjore,  Maha  Raja  Serfogee." 

Before  Carey  baptized  his  first  convert  in  1800  there 
had  been  40,000  converts  in  the  Tranquebar  mission. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CHINA  AND  TATARY. 

98.  Three  periods.  99.  The  Nestorian  monument  of 
Si-gnan-fu.  100.  Royal  reception  of  Olopun.  101. 
Progress  and  reverse.  102.  More  imperial  favor. 
103.  Conclusions  from  the  monument.  104.  Close  of 
the  first  period.  105.  The  Kerait  Tatars  and  Prester 
John.  106.  Jenghiz  Khan.  107.  Carpini's  phenomenal 
journey  to  Karakorum.  108.  Report  of  Sempad.  109. 
A  great  debate  in  Karakorum.  no.  Characteristics  of 
Tatar  rule.  ill.  Kublai  Khan's  request  for  mission- 
aries. 112.  John  of  Monte  Corvino.  113.  His  jour- 
ney, reception  and  helpers.  114-  Converts  and  educa- 
tion. 115.  Appeal  for  more  workers  and  supplies. 
116.  Church  building.  117.  Work  in  Southern  China. 
118.  Progress  there.  119.  Odoric  of  Pordenone.  120. 
State  of  the  missions  about  1330. 

98.  There  were  three  distinctly  marked  and  appar- 
ently successful  periods  of  missions  in  China  before 
1800,  with  complete  gaps  between  them.  In  the  eighth 
century  Christianity  had  gained  a  numerous  and  in- 
fluential following.  It  seemed  in  a  fair  way  to  per- 
vade the  land.  Then  it  was  almost  entirely  effaced. 
The  same  was  true  again  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
The  leaders  in  the  first  period  of  missionary  work  were 
Nestorians,  in  the  second  period  Franciscans,  in  the 
third  period  Jesuits. 

99.  One  of  the  precious  missionary  records  of  the 

107 


IOS  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

world  was  preserved  by  being  buried  in  China  for 
seven  or  eight  hundred  years.  Near  the  great  city  of 
Ch'ang-an,  in  the  fu  or  department  Hsi-an,  province 
of  Shenshi,  northwestern  China,  some  workmen  dig- 
ging a  trench  in  the  year  1625  came  upon  a  stone  tablet 
seven  feet  long  and  three  feet  wide,  covered  with  char- 
acters, mostly  Chinese,  but  a  few  of  them  Syriac.  The 
Chinese  are  fond  of  ancient  monuments,  having  a  con- 
siderable collection  in  this  very  city  of  Ch'ang-an.  The 
governor  of  the  city  took  this  one  in  charge.  There 
were  no  foreigners  in  the  place  at  that  time,  but  a  na- 
tive Christian  sent  a  copy  of  it  to  some  Jesuit  mission- 
aries. It  has  been  reproduced  by  copies  and  "squeezes" 
many  times  since  1625,  and  has  been  frequently  trans- 
lated. Its  authenticity  was  questioned  by  Voltaire  and 
others.  But  even  so  critical  a  historian  as  Gibbon  said 
of  them  that  they  became  "the  dupes  of  their  own 
cunning,  whilst  they  are  afraid  of  a  Jesuitical  fraud." 
It  has  been  decided  by  competent  scholarship  that  this 
is  a  genuine  monument  inscribed  by  Nestorian  mis- 
sionaries A.  D.  781.  It  is  commonly  called  the  Nes- 
torian monument  of  Si-gnan-fu,  a  current  spelling  of 
the  place  where  it  was  found. 

The  interest  of  this  document  in  stone  is  so  great 
from  every  point  of  view  that  we  must  regret  that 
our  space  does  not  permit  the  reproduction  of  it  all. 
The  first  part  is  a  statement  concerning  the  being  of 
God,  the  sin  of  man,  the  coming  and  teachings  of 
Christ  and  the  beneficent  work  of  Christian  mission- 
aries. The  second  part  is  a  sketch  of  the  Nestorian 
missions  in  China  from  A.  D.  635  to  781.    The  third 


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1-GNAN-FU,  CHINA 


CHINA   AND  TATARY.  IO9 

part  is  a  poem  in  praise  of  the  "Illustrious  Religion," 
as  Christianity  is  always  named  on  the  monument,  and 
eulogistic  of  the  Chinese  emperors  who  favored  this 
religion.  Several  notes  are  added,  partly  in  Syriac, 
giving  the  names  of  ecclesiastics,  including  the  one 
who  erected  the  stone,  Yezd-buzid.  The  whole  in- 
scription as  translated  by  Prof.  Legge  of  Oxford  has 
some  3,500  English  words.  We  must  confine  our  se- 
lection to  some  paragraphs  from  the  second  or  his- 
torical portion  of  the  record,  using  Prof.  Legge's 
translation. 

100.  "When  the  Accomplished  Emperor  T'ai  Tsung  (A.  D. 
627-649)  commenced  his  glorious  reign  over  the  (recently) 
established  dynasty  (of  T'ang),  presiding  over  men  with  intel- 
ligence and  sagehood,  in  the  kingdom  of  Ta  Ts'in  (Roman 
Empire),  there  was  a  man  of  the  highest  virtue  called  Olopun. 
Guiding  himself  by  the  azure  clouds,  he  carried  with  him  the 
True  Scriptures.  Watching  the  laws  of  the  winds,  he  made  his 
way  through  difficulties  and  perils.  In  the  ninth  year  of  the 
period  Chang-kwan  (A.  D.  635),  he  arrived  at  Ch'ang-an.  The 
emperor  sent  his  minister,  Duke  Fang  Hsiian-ling,  bearing  the 
staff  of  office,  to  the  western  suburb,  there  to  receive  the  vis- 
itor, and  conduct  him  to  the  palace.  The  Scriptures  were 
translated  in  the  Library.  (His  Majesty)  questioned  him  about 
his  system  in  his  own  forbidden  apartments,  became  deeply 
convinced  of  its  correctness  and  truth,  and  gave  special  orders 
for  its  propagation.  In  the  twelfth  Chang-kwan  year  (638), 
in  autumn,  in  the  seventh  month,  the  following  proclamation 
was  issued: — 'Systems  have  not  always  the  same  name;  sages 
have  not  always  the  same  personality.  Every  region  has  its 
appropriate  doctrines,  which  by  their  imperceptible  influence 
benefit  the  inhabitants.  The  greatly  virtuous  Olopun  of  the 
kingdom  of  Ta  Ts'in,  bringing  his  scriptures  and  images  from 
afar,  has  come  and  presented  them  at  our  High  Capital.  Hav- 
ing carefully  examined  the  scope  of  his  doctrines,  we  find  them 


IIO  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

to  be  mysterious,  admirable,  and  requiring  nothing  (special)  to 
be  done;  having  looked  at  the  principal  and  most  honoured 
points  in  them,  they  are  intended  for  the  establishment  of  what 
is  most  important.  Their  language  is  free  from  troublesome 
verbosity ;  their  principles  remain  when  the  immediate  occasion 
for  their  delivery  is  forgotten;  (the  system)  is  helpful  to  (all) 
creatures,  and  profitable  for  men : — let  it  have  free  course 
throughout  the  empire.' 

"The  proper  officers  forthwith,  in  the  capital  in  the  Ward 
of  Righteousness  and  Repose,  built  a  Ta  Ts'in  monastery, 
sufficient  to  accommodate  twenty-one  priests.  The  virtue  of 
the  honored  House  of  Chau  had  died  away ;  the  rider  in  the 
green  car  had  ascended  to  the  west ;  the  course  of  the  great 
T'ang  was  (now)  brilliant;  and  the  breath  of  the  Illustrious 
(Religion)  came  eastward  to  fan  it.  The  proper  officers  were 
further  ordered  to  take  a  faithful  likeness  of  the  emperor,  and 
have  it  copied  on  the  walls  of  the  monastery.  The  celestial 
beauty  appeared  in  its  many  brilliant  colors,  the  commanding 
form  irradiated  the  Illustrious  portals ;  the  sacred  traces 
communicated  a  felicitous  influence,  forever  illuminating  the 
precincts  of  the  (true)  law 

101.  "The  great  emperor  Kao  Tsung  (650-683)  reverently 
continued  (the  line  of)  his  ancestors.  A  beneficent  and  elegant 
patron  of  the  Truth,  he  caused  monasteries  of  the  Illustrious 
(Religion)  to  be  erected  in  every  one  of  the  Prefectures,  and 
continued  the  favour  (of  his  father)  to  Olopun,  raising  him  to 
be  Lord  of  the  Great  Law,  for  the  preservation  of  the  state. 
The  Religion  spread  through  the  Ten  Circuits.  The  king- 
doms became  rich  and  enjoyed  great  repose.  Monasteries 
filled  a  hundred  cities ;  the  (great)  families  multiplied  in  the 
possession  of  brilliant  happiness. 

"In  the  period  Shang-li  (698-699),  the  Buddhists,  taking 
advantage  of  their  strength,  made  their  voices  heard  (against 
the  Religion)  in  the  eastern  capital  of  Chau,  and  in  the  end 
of  the  year  Hsien-t'ien  (712)  some  inferior  officers  greatly 
derided  it;  slandering  and  speaking  against  it  in  the  Western 
Hao.  But  there  were  the  chief  priest  Lo-han,  the  greatly  vir- 
tuous Chi-lieh  and  others,  noble  men  from  the  golden  regions, 


CHINA  AND  TATARY.  HI 

all  eminent  priests,  keeping  themselves  aloof  from  worldly 
influences,  who  joined  together  in  restoring  the  mysterious 
net,  and  in  rebinding  its  meshes  which  had  been  broken. 

"Hsiian  Tsung  (713-755),  the  emperor  of  the  Perfect  Way, 
ordered  the  king  of  Ning  and  the  four  other  kings  with  him 
to  go  in  person  to  the  blessed  buildings,  and  rebuild  their 
altars.  The  consecrated  beams  which  had  for  a  time  been 
torn  from  their  places  were  (thus)  again  raised  up,  and  the 
sacred  stones  which  had  for  a  time  been  thrown  down  were 
again  replaced.     .     .     . 

"In  the  third  year  of  the  same  period  (744).  in  the  kingdom 
of  Ta  Ts'in  there  was  the  monk  of  Chi-ho.  Observing  the 
stars  he  directed  his  steps  to  (the  region  of)  transformation; 
looking  to  the  sun,  he  came  to  pay  court  to  the  most  Honorable 
(emperor).  An  imperial  proclamation  was  issued  for  the 
priests  Lo-han,  P'u-lun  and  others,  seventeen  in  all,  along 
with  the  greatly  virtuous  Chi-ho.  to  perform  a  service  of 
merit  in  the  Hsing-ch'ing  palace. 

102.  "The  emperor  Su  Tsung  (756-762),  Accomplished  and 
Intelligent,  rebuilt  the  monasteries  of  the  Illustrious  (religion) 
in  Ling-Wu  and  four  other  parts.  His  great  goodness  (con- 
tinued to)  assist  it,  and  all  happy  influences  were  opened  up ; 
great  felicity  descended,  and  the  imperial  inheritance  was 
strengthened. 

"The  emperor  Tai  Tsung  (763-779).  Accomplished  and  Mar- 
tial, grandly  signalized  his  succession  to  the  throne,  and  con- 
ducted his  affairs  without  (apparent)  effort.  Always  when 
the  day  of  his  birth  recurred  he  contributed  celestial  incense 
wherewith  to  announce  the  meritorious  deeds  accomplished 
by  him,  and  sent  provisions  from  his  own  table  to  brighten 
our  Illustrious  assembly.  As  Heaven  by  its  beautiful  minis- 
tration* of  what  is  profitable  can  widen  (the  term  and  enjoy- 
ment of)  life,  so  the  sage  (sovereign)  by  his  embodiment  of 
the  way  of  Heaven,  completes  and  nourishes  (the  objects  of 
his  favour). 

"In  this  period  of  Chien-chung  (780-783),  our  present  em- 
peror, Sage  and  Spirit-like,  Accomplished  alike  for  peace  and 


112  TWO  THOUSAND*  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

war,  develops  the  eight  objects  of  government,  so  as  to  de- 
grade the  undeserving,  and  promote  the  deserving;  and  ex- 
hibits the  nine  divisions  of  the  scheme  (of  Royal  government), 
to  impart  a  new  vigour  to  the  throne  to  which  he  has  illus- 
triously succeeded.  His  transforming  influence  shows  a  com- 
prehension of  the  most  mysterious  principles;  (his)  prayers 
give  no  occasion  for  shame  in  the  heart.  In  his  grand  posi- 
tion he  yet  is  humble ;  maintaining  an  entire  stillness,  he  yet  is 
observant  of  the  altruistic  rule.  That  with  unrestricted  gen- 
tleness he  seeks  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  all,  and  that  bless- 
ings reach  from  him  to  all  that  have  life  is  due  to  the  plans  of 
our  (Illustrious  Religion)  for  the  cultivation  of  the  conduct, 
and  the  gradual  steps  by  which  it  leads  men  on.  That  the 
winds  and  rains  come  at  their  proper  seasons ;  quiet  prevail 
through  the  empire ;  men  be  amenable  to  reason ;  all  things  be 
pure ;  those  who  are  being  preserved  flourish,  and  those  who 
are  ready  to  die  have  joy;  every  thought  have  its  echo  of  re- 
sponse; and  the  feelings  go  forth  in  entire  sincerity: — all  this 
is  the  meritorious  effect  of  its  Illustrious  power  and  op- 
eration." 

103.  During  most  of  the  time  then,  for  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  by  approval  of  the  emperors, 
Christianity  was  allowed  to  have  free  course  in  China 
with  the  three  other  systems  of  religion  in  the  country 
— Confucianism,  Taoism,  and  Buddhism.  One  period 
without  the  royal  favor  is  mentioned.  From  Chinese 
histories  we  know  that  at  that  time  an  empress  vio- 
lently assumed  the  reins  of  government  and  that  she 
was  a  conservative  in  thought,  even  reactionary.  It  is 
striking  to  find  that  China  had  such  similar  experiences 
at  the  end  of  the  seventh  and  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
turies. 

The  distance  of  the  missionaries  in  China  from  their 
home  land  in  Persia  in  those  days  is  impressively  shown 


CHINA  AND   TATARY.  113 

by  the  fact  that  the  inscription  says  that  it  was  made 
when  Hanan-Yeshu'  was  the  Nestorian  patriarch,  and 
that  it  was  in  the  year  781.  But  we  know  from  the 
ecclesiastical  history  of  western  Asia  that  Patriarch 
Hanan-Yeshu'  died  before  the  end  of  778.  After  more 
than  three  years,  then,  the  most  conspicuous  item  of 
their  home-church  news  had  not  yet  reached  them. 
Think,  then,  what  a  daring  venture  it  was  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  earlier  for  Olopun  and  his  com- 
rades to  start  on  their  long  journey  to  the  land  of 
Sinim !  Must  we  not  add  him  to  our  list  of  missionary 
heroes  ? 

104.  There  is  no  unmistakable  information  as  to 
Christianity  in  China  before  the  time  of  Olopun.  There 
are  traditions  like  that  imbedded  over  and  over  again 
in  the  liturgy  of  the  Nestorian  Christians  of  India. 
"By  St.  Thomas  hath  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  taken 
unto  itself  wings  and  passed  even  unto  China."  This 
tradition  is  a  late  one  and  of  no  value.  But  the  fact 
that  there  was  a  Christian  bishop  of  Maru  and  Tus 
A.  D.  334  shows  that  missions  had  early  reached  as 
far  east  as  Khorasan.  There  is  also  record  of  a  bishop 
at  Samarkand  in  503. 

Not  long  after  the  flourishing  times  of  the  Si-gnan- 
fu  monument,  we  know  from  Chinese  history  that  one 
of  the  emperors  suppressed  a  large  number  of  Bud- 
dhist monasteries,  requiring  260,000  monks  and  nuns  to 
return  to  secular  life.  At  the  same  time  he  made  the 
same  requirement  of  three  thousand  who  were  all  or 
in  part  Christian  missionaries.  These  are  the  words 
of  the  edict  concerning  the  latter :     "As  to  the  religions 


I  14  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

of  foreign  nations,  let  the  men  who  teach  them,  as  well 
those  of  Ta  Ts'in  as  of  Mu-hu-pi,  amounting  to 
more  than  three  thousand  persons,  be  required  to  re- 
sume the  ways  of  ordinary  life,  and  their  unsubstantial 
talkings  no  more  be  heard."  This  was  in  845,  only  64 
years  after  the  erection  of  the  Nestorian  monument. 
It  gives  a  hint  as  to  the  number  of  Christian  teachers 
in  China  then.  Nestorian  Christianity  there  probably 
did  not  recover  from  this  blow,  at  least  not  for  cen- 
turies, although  Buddhism — which  had  more  than 
eighty  times  as  many  representatives — did  recover. 
We  shall  see  evidence  appearing  450  years  later  that 
Christianity  may  not  have  become  quite  as  extinct  as 
a  Mohammedan  author,  Abulfaraj,  would  have  us  be- 
lieve. His  account  shows,  at  any  rate,  that  mission- 
aries were  still  sent  to  China.     He  says : 

"In  the  year  Z77  (A.  D.  987),  behind  the  church  in  the  Chris- 
tian quarter  (of  Baghdad),  I  fell  in  with  a  certain  monk  of 
Najran,  who  seven  years  before  had  been  sent  to  China  by 
the  Catholics,  with  five  other  ecclesiastics,  to  bring  the  affairs 
of  Christianity  in  that  country  into  order.  He  was  a  man  still 
young,  and  of  a  pleasant  countenance,  but  of  few  words,  open- 
ing his  mouth  only  to  answer  questions.  I  asked  him  about 
his  travels,  and  he  told  me  that  Christianity  had  become  quite 
extinct  in  China.  The  Christians  had  perished  in  various 
ways;  their  Church  had  been  destroyed;  and  but  one  Chris- 
tian remained  in  the  land.  The  monk,  finding  nobody  whom 
he  could  aid  with- his  ministry,  had  come  back  faster  than  he 
went." 

Layard  found  in  an  old  Nestorian  church  in  the 
Kurdistan  Mountains  some  China  bowls  suspended 
from  the  ceiling  and  grimy  with  age,  which  he  was 
assured  had  been  brought  fr  >m  China  by  missionaries 


CHINA    AND   TATARY.  115 

in  the  days  of  the  great  Nestorian  missions  to  that 
empire. 

105.  The  second  period  of  missions  in  China  was 
during  the  sway  of  the  great  Mongol  rulers  of  Asia, 
commonly  known  at  the  time  as  Tatars.  It  must  in- 
clude work  thousands  of  miles  from  China,  but  only  in 
territory  ruled,  for  a  part  of  the  time,  at  least,  by  the 
sovereigns  of  China.  Among  Europeans  China  was 
know  as  Cathay,  and  the  rest  of  the  empire  as  Tatary. 

The  first  mission  to  the  Tatars  of  which  we  have 
much  knowledge  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh 
century,  though  some  of  the  Turks  in  the  region  east 
of  the  Caspian  Sea  were  converted  two  hundred  years 
earlier.  A  Nestorian  metropolitan  see  existed  there. 
The  pioneers  of  the  missionary  enterprise  farther  east 
are  said  to  have  been  Christian  merchants.  It  must 
have  been  a  thrilling  day  for  the  Christians  at  Bagdad 
when  the  Nestorian  Patriarch  there  received  word 
from  the  Archbishop  among  the  Tatars  at  Merv,  east 
of  the  Caspian,  that  the  ruler  of  the  Kerait  Tatars, 
more  than  2,500  miles  still  farther  east,  had  requested 
that  missionaries  be  sent  to  him  and  his  people  and  had 
declared  that  two  hundred  thousand  of  his  subjects 
were  ready  to  follow  him  in  baptism.  The  requested 
missionary  force  was  sent.  This  was  between  the 
years  1001  and  1012.  The  Keraits  became  a  Christian 
tribe.  ■  This  fact  is  confirmed  by  Rashid-eddin,  the 
Mohammedan  historian  of  the  Mongols.  Some  of 
these  Keraits  occupied  the  region  around  the  great 
northern  bend  of  the  Hoang  Ho  River  of  China,  and 
some  of  them  were  in  regions  still  farther  north.    Ex- 


Il6  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

aggerated  accounts  of  the  ruler  of  this  tribe  started 
all  Europe  into  wild  ideas  which  were  cherished  for 
centuries  about  a  certain  Prester  John,  a  wonderful 
priest-king,  who  ruled  in  fabulous  splendor  and  power 
over  most  of  Asia. 

106.  Christianity  continued  among  the  Keraits  for 
more  than  four  hundred  years.  But  after  only  two 
hundred  years  Jenghiz,  Khan  of  a  neighboring  Tatar 
people,  completely  overcame  the  Keraits.  Sweeping 
southward  into  China  and  westward  across  all  central 
Asia,  Jenghiz  and  his  successors  subdued  the  whole 
continent  and  much  beyond,  even  to  the  heart  of  Eu- 
rope. They  overran  Poland  and  Hungary.  All  Eu- 
rope shuddered  at  the  name  of  Tatar.  Still  there  was 
a  feeling  that  these  dreadful  barbarians  might  be  Chris- 
tianized. They  were  not  at  first  Mohammedans,  but 
the  subduers  of  Mohammedans,  to  the  delight  of 
Christendom.  The  myths  about  Prester  John  were 
attached  more  or  less  to  all  the  Tatar  sovereigns.  The 
Pope  sent  missionary  ambassadors  to  them. 

107.  He  intrusted  the  first  mission  to  John  of  Piano 
Carpini,  one  of  the  immediate  followers  of  Francis  of 
Assisi.     Carpini  started  from  Lyons  in  the  spring  of 

1245  and,  accompanied  by  Benedict  of  Poland,  reached 
the  camp  of  the  Great  Khan  the  following  summer. 
Karakorum,  the  seat  of  Tatar  empire  for  the  first  two 
or  three  generations,  is  in  the  heart  of  northern  Mon- 
golia, 900  miles  northwest  from  Peking,  350  miles 
south  of  the  southern  tip.  of  Lake  Baikal,  Siberia. 
Carpini  was  sixty-five  years  of  age  and  very  corpulent. 
He  made  the  unprecedented  journey  into  the  wilds  of 


CHINA  AND   TATARY.  117 

central  Asia  and  brought  back  a  report  to  the  Pope 
in  two  years  and  a  half.  It  was  a  journey  of  10,000 
miles.  He  must  have  been  a  man  of  matchless  tact 
and  determination,  as  well  as  devotion.  He  arrived 
at  Karakorum  when  Tourakina,  the  widow  of  the  last 
khan,  was  acting  as  regent,  and  endeavoring  to  secure 
the  election  of  her  son.  Princes  and  chieftains  gath- 
ered from  literally  all  parts  of  Asia,  and  the  Queen 
Dowager's  favorite,  Kuyuk,  was  elected.  The  rude 
gorgeousness  of  the  canvas  capital  of  the  world  and  its 
ceremonies  are  outside  of  our  present  field  of  interest. 
The  new  khan  gave  audience  repeatedly  to  the  mission- 
ary ambassadors.  When  they  asked  him  if  the  reports 
which  had  reached  the  West  were  true,  that  the  Khan 
of  the  Tatars  was  a  Christian,  he  answered :  "God 
knows  it,  and  if  the  Pope  wishes  to  know  it,  too,  he 
has  but  to  come  and  see."  The  answer  was  more  dis- 
creet than  satisfactory.  He  was  found  to  have  many 
Oriental  Christians  in  his  service.  Tourakina  was 
thought  to  favor  Christianity  more  than  other  religions, 
but  really  all  religions  were  favored  alike.  The  Great 
Khan  sent  the  Pope  a  letter  in  which  he  replied  to  the 
papal  remonstrance  against  the  slaughter  of  Chris- 
tian nations,  saying:  "God  has  commanded  me  to  an- 
nihilate them  and  has  delivered  them  entirely  into  my 
hands."  This  answer  would  seem  to  be  plain  enough 
to  have  dispelled  forever  the  rosy  myth  of  Prester 
John,  a  Christian  priest-king  ruling  the  Orient.  Car- 
pini  brought  to  Europe  the  first  modern  knowledge  con- 
cerning Cathay  (China).  It  was  clear  and  correct  as 
far  as  it  went. 


Il8  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

108.  In  1246  the  King  of  Armenia  sent  his  brother 
Sempad  to  secure  the  favor  of  the  khan.  Here  is  an 
extract  from  Sempad's  report.  It  confirms  Carpini's 
account  as  to  the  vastness  of  the  territory  represented 
in  the  assemblage  for  the  election  of  Kuyuk,  and  gives 
intensely  interesting  information  as  to  the  extent  of 
Nestorian  Christianity  and  its  treatment  by  the  Great 
Khans.  It  shows,  too,  how  the  religious  tolerance  of 
the  Tatar  khans,  so  far  in  advance  of  the  practice  cf 
Christendom  in  those  days,  fostered  the  impression 
that  the  khan  himself  must  be  a  Christian.  The  letter 
naively  reveals  the  fact  that  the  notions  of  the  khans 
in  that  respect  were  far  superior  to  those  of  Sempad, 
the  writer. 

"We  understand  it  to  be  the  fact  that  it  is  five  years  past 
since  the  death  of  the  present  Chan's  father  [Okkodai]  ;  but 
the  Tartar  barons  and  soldiers  had  been  so  scattered  over 
the  face  of  the  earth  that  it  was  scarcely  possible  in  the  five 
years  to  get  them  together  in  one  place  to  enthrone  the  Chan 
aforesaid.  For  some  of  them  were  in  India,  and  others  in 
the  land  of  Chata,  and  others  in  the  land  of  Caschar  and  of 
Tanchat.  This  last  is  the  land  from  which  came  the  Three 
Kings  to  Bethlem  to  worship  the  Lord  Jesus  which  was  born. 
And  know  that  the  power  of  Christ  has  been,  and  is,  so  great, 
that  the  people  of  that  land  are  Christians ;  and  the  whole 
land  of  Chata  believes  in  those  Three  Kings.  I  have  myself 
been  in  their  churches  and  have  seen  pictures  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  Three  Kings,  one  offering  gold,  the  second  frankin- 
cense, and  the  third  myrrh.  And  it  is  through  those  Three 
Kings  that  they  believe  in  Christ,  and  that  the  Chan  and  his 
people  have  now  become  Christians  [!].  And  they  have  their 
churches  before  his  gates  where  they  ring  their  bells  and  beat 
upon  pieces  of  timber.  .  .  .  And  I  tell  you  that 
we  have  found  many  Christians  scattered  all  over  the  East, 


CHINA  AND  TATARY.  1 19 

and  many  fine  churches,  lofty,  ancient,  and  of  good  architec- 
ture, which  have  been  spoiled  by  the  Turks.  Hence  the  Chris- 
tians of  the  land  came  before  the  present  Khan's  grandfather; 
and  he  received  them  most  honorably,  and  granted  them  lib- 
erty of  worship,  and  issued  orders  to  forbid  their  having  any 
just  cause  of  complaint  by  word  or  deed.  And  so  the  Saracens 
who  used  to  treat  them  with  contumely  have  now  like  treat- 
ment in  double  measure  .  .  .  and  let  me  tell 
you  that  those  who  set  up  for  preachers  [among  these  Chris- 
tians], in  my  opinion,  deserve  to  be  well  chastised." 

109.  When  Louis  IX.  of  France  heard  a  description 
of  the  barbarities  of  the  Tatar  invaders  of  eastern 
Europe,  he  exclaimed :  "Well  may  they  be  called  Tar- 
tars, for  their  deeds  are  those  of  fiends  from  Tartarus." 
The  extra  letter  "r"  which  he  thrust  into  their  name 
for  the  sake  of  his  serious  pun  has  stayed  there  ever 
since  in  the  popular  usage. 

Louis  sent  William  Rubruk,  a  Fleming,  and  two 
other  Franciscans,  as  missionaries  to  the  Great  Khan. 
When  they  reached  Karakorum,  Mangou,  the  success- 
or of  Kuyuk,  was  on  the  ivory  throne.  He  appointed  a 
great  public  discussion  by  representatives  of  Budd- 
hism, Mohammedanism  and  Christianity,  forbidding 
on  pain  of  death  any  quarreling.  Rubruck  had  a  pre- 
liminary conference  with  the  Nestorians,  in  order  that 
the  two  sects  of  Christians  might  co-operate.  How 
often  missions  have  brought  sectarians  together !  A 
Buddhist  priest  from  China  called  on  Rubruk  to  open 
the  discussion,  and  is  said  to  have  admitted  after  the 
debate  was  over  that  the  Christian  had  the  best  of  the 
argument. 

"The  Nestorians  then  entered  the  lists  against  the  Mussul- 
mans, but  the  latter  declared  that  there  was  no  ground  for 


120  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

dispute;  that  they  regarded  the  Christian  law  as  a  true  one, 
and  believed  all  that  the  Gospel  contained;  that  they  acknowl- 
edged one  God  alone,  and  prayed  to  him  every  day.  'This 
conference  being  then  ended,'  says  Rubruk,  'the  Nestorians 
and  Saracens  chanted  together  with  a  loud  voice,  but  the 
pagans  said  nothing  at  all ;  and  after  that  the  whole  assembly 
drank  together  pretty  freely.'  The  day  after  the  public  con- 
troversy, Mangou  sent  for  Rubruk,  and  began  to  make  a  kind 
of  confession  of  faith.  'We  Mongols,'  said  he,  'believe  that 
there  is  one  God,  by  whom  we  live  and  die,  and  towards  whom 
our  hearts  are  wholly  turned.'  'May  God  give  you  his  grace 
that  it  may  be  so,'  said  Rubruk,  'for  otherwise  it  is  impossible.' 
The  emperor  went  on :  'As  God  has  given  the  hand  several 
fingers,  so  has  he  prepared  for  men  various  ways,  by  which 
they  may  go  to  heaven.  He  has  given  the  Gospel  to  the  Chris- 
tians, but  they  do  not  obey  it ;  he  has  given  soothsayers  to 
the  Mongols,  and  the  Mongols  do  what  their  soothsayers 
command,  and,  therefore,  they  live  in  peace.'  " 

Having  finished  his  statement  of  the  case,  the  ruler 
of  Asia  dismissed  the  missionaries.  They  reached 
home  in  1255. 

no.  During  the  Tatar  sway  more  than*at  any  time 
before  or  since,  the  long  land  route  was  open  between 
the  Mediterranean  and  the  China  Seas.  This  was  pre- 
eminently true  from  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  to 
near  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  centuries — that  is, 
in  the  days  of  the  early  successors  of  Jenghiz  Khan , 
Okkodai,  Kuyuk,  Mangou  and  Kublai.  Kublai  Khan, 
grandson  of  Jenghiz,  removed  the  Mongol  capital  to 
northern  China  (Peking),  and  later  carried  the  Tatar 
sway  through  all  China  to  its  southern  coasts  and  even 
over  the  confines  of  Burma  into  the  Malayan  Penin- 
sula. Reigning  at  Peking  from  1259  to  1294,  he  was 
the  sovereign  of  a  larger  part  of  the  planet  than  has 


CHINA  AND   TATARY.  121 

ever  been  under  the  scepter  of  any  other  one  man.  His 
dominion  stretched  from  the  Strait  of  Malacca  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  and  from  the  Yellow  Sea  to  the  Black 
Sea.  He  was  a  man  of  unusually  broad  and  enlight- 
ened views.  He  won  the  hearts  of  the  conquered  Chi- 
nese, and  at  the  same  time  gathered  about  his  court  not 
only  merchants,  but  also  learned  men  from  all  parts  of 
the  world.  It  was  in  his  days  that  the  Polos  of  Venice 
made  their  journeys  to  China  and  resided  there.  Modern 
critical  scholarship  proves  that  Marco  Polo's  account, 
long  thought  to  be  largely  fabulous,  is  to  be  relied  upon 
with  confidence  as  to  important  facts.  Kublai  had 
many  Nestorian  Christian  subjects,  as  well  as  Budd- 
hists, Mohammedans  and  Jews.  He  allowed  them  all 
complete  liberty.  He  was  himself  something  of  an 
eclectic  in  religion.  On  Christian  festival  days  he  had 
the  Gospels  brought  to  him  and  reverently  kissed  them. 
He  said  that  there  were  four  great  prophets — Moham- 
med, Jesus,  Buddha  and  Moses.  One  of  his  nephews, 
Nayan,  raised  a  revolt  and  carried  it  on  under  a  Chris- 
tian banner.  When  the  insurrection  had  been  over- 
come Kublai  forbade  any  railing  at  the  religion  of  the 
defeated,  saying  that  the  reason  that  the  God  of  the 
Christians  refused  to  hear  their  prayers  and  prosper 
their  course  was  because  he  was  too  just  and  good  to 
favor  their  rebellion  against  rightful  authority. 

in.  Kublai  commissioned  Nicolo  and  Maffeo  Polo, 
Marco's  father  and  uncle,  to  go  as  envoys  to  the  Pope, 
asking  for  one  hundred  learned  men  to  come  to  China 
to  instruct  the  people  in  western  knowledge  and  in  the 
Christian  religion.     They  reached  Venice  in  1270,  but 


122  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

the  Papal  chair  was  vacant  until  1271,  because  the 
French  and  Italian  cardinals  could  not  unite  in  electing 
a  candidate  for  the  office.  Finally  Gregory  X.  sent  two 
Dominicans  in  answer  to  this  appeal,  which  ought  to 
have  stirred  every  heart  in  Christendom  to  strenuous 
effort.  It  was  a  clear  call  for  the  conversion  of  the 
largest  empire  on  which  the  sun  ever  shone.  The  two 
sent  turned  back  before  they  had  gone  far  on  the  long 
journey.  If  only  the  hundred  missionaries  asked 
for  in  Kublai's  noble  Macedonian  appeal  had  been  sent, 
to  say  nothing  of  thousands  whose  lives  were  with- 
ering in  monasteries  for  want  of  philanthropic  activity, 
who  can  tell  what  the  effect  might  have  been  at  that 
favorable  moment  on  the  destiny  of  China  ?  The  ques- 
tion is  made  more  insistent  by  the  effective  work  which 
we  find  a  handful  of  missionaries  doing  in  China,  al- 
most a  generation  later.  But,  alas !  the  poor  Pope  was 
kept  too  busy  with  factions  of  the  cardinals  and  with 
European  politics,  connected  with  the  hope  of  another 
crusade  in  behalf  of  the  sepulcher  in  Palestine,  to  guide 
much  of  the  church's  energy  toward  the  redemption  of 
the  millions  of  living  souls  in  China  and  on  the  whole 
continent  of  Asia.  There  are  thousands  of  parish 
popes  in  every  sect  of  Christendom  still,  who  see  the 
relative  importance  of  things  much  as  Gregory  saw 
them. 

112.  After  Gregory  X.  and  six  other  popes  had  run 
their  brief  careers,  a  mission  to  China  was  undertaken 
by  a  most  worthy  member  of  the  order  of  Francis 
of  Assisi,  John  of  Monte  Corvino.  He  was  sent 
out  when  fifty  years  of  age,   and  toiled   more  than 


CHINA  AND  TATARY.  1 23 

thirty-five  years  with  deserved  success.  He  found 
the  Nestorian  Christians  there  in  great  num- 
bers, results  of  the  early  missions  or  of  some  later 
planting  by  that  missionary  people.  His  proselyting 
trials  and  struggles  with  them  are  to  be  regretted  and 
are  outside  the  range  of  our  present  studies.  But  he 
did  true  missionary  work  as  well.  The  following  ex- 
tracts from  his  letters  home  are  the  best  description  of 
his  work.  They  are  pathetic  as  to  his  isolation.  After 
some  twelve  years'  absence,  he  writes  :  "I  am  surprised 
that  until  this  year  I  never  received  a  letter  from  any 
friend  or  any  brother  of  the  order,  nor  even  so  much 
as  a  message  of  remembrance,  so  that  it  seemed  as  if  I 
were  utterly  forgotten  by  everybody."  In  his  first  let- 
ter he  asks  for  books  and  for  helpers.  How  much  it 
sounds  like  the  appeals  of  modern  missionaries  for 
more  workers!  In  a  later  letter  he  says:  "But  none 
should  be  sent  except  men  of  the  most  solid  character." 

"Cambalec  [Peking],  Cathay,  Jan.  8,  1305. 

113.  "I,  Brother  John  of  Monte  Corvino,  of  the  order  of  Mi- 
nor Friars  [Franciscans],  departed  from  Tauris,  a  city  of  the 
Persians,  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  1291,  and  proceeded  to  India. 
And  I  remained  in  the  country  of  India,  wherein  stands  the 
church  of  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle,  for  thirteen  months,  and 
in  that  region  baptized  in  different  places  about  one  hundred 
persons.  The  companion  of  my  journey  was  brother  Nicholas 
of  Pistoia,  of  the  order  of  Preachers  [Dominicans],  who  died 
there,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  aforesaid. 

"I  proceeded  on  my  further  journey  and  made  my  way  to 
Cathay,  the  realm  of  the  Emperor  of  the  Tatars,  who  is  called 
the  Grand  Cham  [Khan].  To  him  I  presented  the  letter  of 
our  lord  the  Pope,  and  invited  him  to  adopt  the  Catholic 
Faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  he  had  grown  too  old  in 


124  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

idolatry.  However,  he  bestows  many  kindnesses  upon  the 
Christians,  and  these  two  years  past  I  am  abiding  with  him. 

"The  Nestorians,  a  certain  body  who  profess  to  bear  the 
Christian  name,  but  who  deviate  sadly  from  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, have  grown  so  powerful  in  those  parts  that  they  will 
not  allow  a  Christian  of  another  ritual  to  have  ever  so  small 
a  chapel,  or  to  publish  any  doctrine  different  from  their 
own. 

"In  this  mission  I  abode  alone  and  without  any  associate 
for  eleven  years;  but  it  is  now  going  on  for  two  years  since 
I  was  joined  by  Brother  Arnold,  a  German  of  the  province 

of  Cologne. 

114.  "I  have  built  a  church  in  the  city  of  Cambaliech  [Pek- 
ing], in  which  the  king  has  his  chief  residence.  This  I  com- 
pleted six  years  ago ;  and  I  have  built  a  bell-tower  to  it,  and  put 
three  bells  in  it.  I  have  baptized  there,  as  well  as  I  can  esti- 
mate, up  to  this  time  some  6,000  persons ;  and  if  those  charges 
against  me  of  which  I  have  spoken  had  not  been  made,  I 
should  have  baptized  more  than  30,000.  And  I  am  often  still 
engaged  in  baptizing. 

"Also  I  have  gradually  bought  one  hundred  and  fifty  boys, 
the  children  of  pagan  parents,  and  of  ages  varying  from  seven 
to  eleven,  who  had  never  learned  any  religion.  These  boys 
I  have  baptized,  and  I  have  taught  them  Greek  and  Latin 
after  our  manner.  Also  I  have  written  out  Psalters  for  them, 
with  thirty  Hymnaries  and  two  Breviaries.  By  help  of  these, 
eleven  of  the  boys  already  know  our  service,  and  form  a 
choir  and  take  their  weekly  turn  of  duty  as  they  do  in  con- 
vents, whether  I  am  there  or  not.  Many  of  the  boys  are  also 
employed  in  writing  out  Psalters  and  other  things  suitable. 
His  Majesty  the  Emperor  moreover  delights  much  to  hear 
them  chaunting.  I  have  the  bells  rung  at  all  the  canonical 
hours,  and  with  my  congregation  of  babes  and  sucklings  I 
perform  divine  service,  and  the  chaunting  we  do  by  ear  be- 
cause I  have  no  service  book  with  the  notes. 

115.  "Indeed,  if  I  had  had  but  two  or  three  comrades  to  aid 
me  'tis  possible  that  the  Emperor  Cham  would  have  been  bap- 


CHINA  AND   TATARY.  125 

tized  by  this  time !  I  ask  then  for  such  brethren  to  come,  if  any 
are  willing  to  come,  such  I  mean  as  will  make  it  their  great 
business  to  lead  exemplary  lives  and  not  to  make  broad  their 
own  phylacteries. 

"As  for  the  road  hither,  I  may  tell  you  that  the  way  through 
the  land  of  the  Goths,  subject  to  the  Emperor  of  the  Northern 
Tartars,  is  the  shortest  and  safest ;  and  by  it  the  friars  might 
come,  along  with  the  letter-carriers,  in  five  or  six 
months.     ... 

"It  is  twelve  years  since  I  had  any  news  of  the  Papal  court, 
or  of  our  order,  or  of  the  state  of  affairs  generally  in  the 
west.  Two  years  ago  indeed  there  came  hither  a  certain 
Lombard  leech  and  chirurgeon,  who  spread  abroad  in  these 
parts  the  most  incredible  blasphemies  about  the  court  of  Rome 
and  our  Order  and  the  state  of  things  in  the  west,  and  on 
this  account  I  exceedingly  desire  to  obtain  true  intelligence. 
I  pray  the  brethren  whom  this  letter  may  reach  to  do  their 
possible  to  bring  its  contents  to  the  knowledge  of  our  lord 
the  Pope,  and  the  Cardinals,  and  the  agents  of  the  Order  at 
the  court  of  Rome. 

"I  beg  the  Minister  General  of  our  Order  to  supply  me  with 
an  Antiphonarium,  with  the  Legends  of  the  Saints,  a  Grad- 
ual, and  a  Psalter  with  the  musical  notes,  as  a  copy;  for  I 
have  nothing  but  a  pocket  Breviary  with  the  short  Lessons, 
and  a  little  missal ;  if  I  had  one  for  a  copy,  the  boys  of  whom 
I  have  spoken  could  transcribe  others  from  It.  Just  now  I 
am  engaged  in  building  a  second  church,  with  the  view  of 
distributing  the  boys  in  more  places  than  one. 

"I  have  myself  grown  old  and  gray,  more  with  toil  and 
trouble  than  with  years ;  for  I  am  not  more  than  fifty-eight. 
I  have  got  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  language  and  char- 
acter which  is  most  generally  used  by  the  Tartars.  And  I 
have  already  translated  into  that  language  and  character  the 
New  Testament  and  the  Psalter,  and  have  caused  them  to  be 
written  out  in  the  fairest  penmanship  they  have;  and  so  by 
writing,  reading  and  preaching  I  bear  open  and  public  testi- 
mony to  the  Law  of  Christ." 


126  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

116.  In  his  second  letter,  dated  April,  1306,  he  de- 
scribes his  church  building  operations: 

"I  began  another  new  place  before  the  gate  of  the  Lord 
Cham  so  that  there  is  but  the  width  of  the  street  between  his 
palace  and  our  place,  and  we  are  but  a  stone's  throw  from  his 
Majesty's  gate.  Master  Peter  of  Lucolongo,  a  faithful  Chris- 
tian man  and  great  merchant,  who  was  the  companion  of  my 
travels  from  Tauris,  himself  bought  the  ground  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  and  gave  it  to  me 
for  the  love  of  God.  And  by  the  divine  favor  I  think  that  a 
more  suitable  position  for  a  Catholic  church  could  not  be 
found  in  the  whole  empire  of  his  Majesty  the  Cham.  In 
the  beginning  of  August  I  got  the  ground,  and  by  the  aid 
of  sundry  benefactors  and  well-wishers  it  was  completed  by 
the  Feast  of  St.  Francis  with  an  enclosure  wall,  houses, 
offices,  courts  and  chapel,  the  latter  capable  of  holding  two 
hundred  persons.  On  account  of  the  winter  coming  on  I 
have  not  been  able  to  finish  the  church,  but  I  have  the  timber 
collected  at  the  house,  and  please  God  I  hope  to  finish  it  in 
summer.  And  I  tell  you  it  is  thought  a  perfect  marvel  by 
all  the  people  who  come  from  the  city  and  elsewhere,  and 
who  had  previously  never  heard  a  word  about  it.  And  when 
they  see  our  new  building,  and  the  red  cross  planted  aloft, 
and  us  in  our  chapel  with  all  decorum  chaunting  the  service, 
they  wonder  more  than  ever.  When  we  are  singing,  his 
Majesty  the  Cham  can  hear  our  voices  in  his  chamber;  and 
this  wonderful  fact  is  spread  far  and  wide  among  the  heathen, 
and  will  have  the  greatest  effect,  if  the  divine  mercy  so  dis- 
poses matters  and  fulfils  our  hopes. 

"From  the  first  church  and  house  to  the  second  church 
which  I  built  afterwards,  is  a  distance  of  two  miles  and  a  half 
within  the  city,  which  is  passing  great." 

117.  In  1317  the  Pope  sent  out  seven  more  Francis- 
cans as  missionary  bishops,  with  the  appointment  of 
archbishop  for  Monte  Corvino.  Three  of  them  died  on 
the  way  in  India.     Another  returned  from  that  country 


CHINA  AND   TATARY.  127 

to  Europe.     The  following  extracts  from  a  letter  of  one 

who  reached  the  field,  Andrew  of   Perugia,  show  the 

progress  of  the  mission,  especially  its  development  in 

Southern   China.     Zayton,  the  center    of    operations 

there,  lay  more  than  a  thousand  miles  straight  south 

of  Peking.     It  has  been  identified  with  the  modern  city 

of  Tsiuan-chau,  which  is  only  170  miles  up  the  coast 

from  Swatow : 

Zayton,  January,   1326. 

"On  account  of  the  immense  distance  by  land  and  sea  in- 
terposed between  us,  I  can  scarcely  hope  that  a  letter  from 
me  to  you  can  come  to  hand.  .  •  .  You  have 
heard  then  how  along  with  Brother  Peregrine,  my  brother 
bishop  of  blessed  memory,  and  the  sole  companion  of  my  pil- 
grimage, through  much  fatigue  and  sickness  and  want,  through 
sundry  grievous  sufferings  and  perils  by  land  and  sea,  plun- 
dered even  of  our  habits  and  tunics,  we  got  at  last  by  God's 
grace  to  the  city  of  Cambaluc,  which  is  the  seat  of  the  Em- 
peror the  Great  Chan,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord's  incarnation 
1308,  as  well  as  I  can  reckon.  There,  after  the  Archbishop 
[Corvino]  was  consecrated,  according  to  the  orders  given  us 
by  the  Apostolic  See,  we  continued  to  abide  for  nearly  five 
years ;  during  which  time  we  obtained  an  Alafa  [allowance] 
from  the  Emperor  for  our  food  and  clothing. 

"There  is  a  great  city  on  the  shores  of  the  Ocean  Sea,  which 
is  called  in  the  Persian  tongue  Zayton  [Tsiuan-chau]  and  in 
this  city  a  rich  Armenian  lady  did  build  a  large  and  fine 
enough  church,  which  was  erected  into  a  cathedral  by  the 
Archbishop  himself  of  his  own  free  will.  The  lady  assigned 
it.  with  a  competent  endowment  which  she  provided  during  her 
life  and  secured  by  will  at  her  death,  to  Brother  Gerard,  the 
Bishop,  and  the  brethren  who  were  with  him,  and  he  became 
accordingly  the  first  occupant  of  the  cathedral. 

118.  "I  caused  a  (another)  convenient  and  handsome  church 
to  be  built  in  a  certain  grove,  quarter  of  a  mile  outside  the 
city,  with  all  the  offices  sufficient  for  twenty-two  friars,  and 


128  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

with  four  apartments  such  that  any  one  of  them  is  good 
enough  for  a  church  dignitary  of  any  rank.  In  this  place  I 
continue  to  dwell,  living  upon  the  imperial  dole  before-men- 
tioned, the  value  of  which,  according  to  the  estimate  of  the 
Genoese  merchants,  amounts  in  the  year  to  ioo  golden  florins 
or  thereabouts.  Of  this  allowance  I  have  spent  the  greatest 
part  in  the  construction  of  the  church;  and  I  know  none 
among  all  the  convents  of  our  province  to  be  compared  to 
it  in  elegance  and  all  other  amenities. 

"And  so  not  long  after  the  death  of  Brother  Peregrine  I 
received  a  decree  from  the  Archbishop  appointing  me  to  the 
aforesaid  cathedral  church,  and  to  this  appointment  I  now 
assented  for  good  reasons.  So  I  abide  now  sometimes  in 
the  house  or  church  in  the  city,  and  sometimes  in  my  con- 
vent outside,  as  it  suits  me.  And  my  health  is  good,  and  as 
far  as  one  can  look  forward  at  my  time  of  life,  I  may  yet 
labor  in  this  field  for  some  years  to  come ;  but  my  hair  is 
gray,  which  is  owing  to  constitutional  infirmities  as  well  as 
age. 

"  Tis  a  fact  that  in  this  vast  empire  there  are  people  of 
every  nation  under  heaven,  and  of  every  sect,  and  all  and 
sundry  are  allowed  to  live  freely  according  to  their  creed. 
For  they  hold  this  opinion,  or  rather  this  erroneous  view,  that 
every  one  can  find  salvation  in  his  own  religion.  Howbeit  we 
are  at  liberty  to  preach  without  let  or  hindrance.  Of  the 
Jews  and  Saracens  there  are  indeed  no  converts,  but  many 
of  the  idolaters  are  baptized ;  though  in  sooth  many  of  the 
baptized  walk  not  rightly  in  the  path  of  Christianity." 

119.  The  wandering  Franciscan,  Odoric  of  Porde- 
none,  after  his  adventures  in  India,  carried  the  bones 
of  martyrs  in  that  land  to  China,  the  original  destina- 
tion of  the  martyred  missionaries,  going  through  Bur- 
ma and  the  southwest  provinces  of  China.  He  de- 
posited the  venerated  burden  which  he  had  brought 
with  incredible  toil  at  the  mission  in  Zayton.  He 
journeyed  next  northward  clear  across  China,  visiting 


CHINA  AND  TATARY.  129 

several  cities  where  there  were  Franciscan  mission- 
aries.   At  last  he  reached  Cambalec  [Peking]. 

'-'I,  Friar  Odoric,  was  full  three  years  in  that  city  of  his  [the 
Great  Khan's],  and  often  present  at  those  festivals  of  theirs; 
for  we  Minor  Friars  have  a  place  assigned  to  us  at  the  em- 
peror's court,  and  we  be  always  in  duty  bound  to  go  and 
give  him  our  benison."  He  speaks  of  "our  own  converts  to 
the  faith,  of  whom  there  be  some  who  are  great  barons  at 
that  court,  and  have  to  do  with  the  king's  person  only." 

Having  in  his  own  way  aided  the  missions  in  China, 
this  roving  missionary  advanced  into  what  we  now  call 
the  closed  land  of  Tibet.  He  found  at  the  capital 
Christian  missionaries.  After  sixteen  years  of  itiner- 
ating over  all  southern  Asia,  including  a  number  of  the 
islands,  he  arrived  home  in  1330.  In  a  short  time  he 
was  about  starting  again  for  farther  Asia,  with  a  com- 
pany of  young  missionaries,  when  he  fell  ill.  Odoric 
was  disinclined  to  tell  of  the  great  things  which  he 
had  seen  and  done.  But  he  received  a  formal  com- 
mand from  the  superior  of  his  order  to  give  an  ac- 
count. He  was  too  feeble  to  write  himself,  and  was 
obliged  to  dictate  to  another.  The  zeal  of  the  amanu- 
ensis or  of  some  admiring  copyist  may  have  misunder- 
stood or  exaggerated  the  number  originally  given ;  but 
the  record  which  has  reached  us  is  of  more  than  20,000 
converts  baptized  by  Odoric. 

120.  "William  Adam,  one  of  the  missionaries  of  the 
Persian  Khanate,  was  on  a  visit  to  the  capital  of  the 
Grand  Khan  when  John  of  Monte  Corvino  died  ( 1328) . 
Jie  wrote  by  order  of  the  Pope  an  account  of  "The  State 
and  Government  of  the  Great  Khan  of  Cathay."  He 
says  that  all  the  people  of  Peking  mourned  for  the  good 


130  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

man.  Pagans  as  well  as  Christians  paid  the  strongest 
tokens  of  respect.  In  the  thirty-six  years  of  Corvino's 
ministry  in  Peking  he  had  earned  the  highest  esteem. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  instrumental  in  the  conversion 
of  30,000  unbelievers.  The  Pope  appointed  Nicolas, 
another  Franciscan,  to  succeed  Corvino  at  the  head 
of  the  work  in  China.  He  set  out  with  thirty-two 
other  missionaries  for  his  distant  field.  The  party 
can  be  traced  only  into  the  heart  of  the  vast  Tatar 
realms,  which  were  at  this  time  beginning  to  revert  to 
chaos.  The  whole  company  was  probably  murdered. 
Nothing  was  heard  of  them  after  1338. 

The  papal  Archbishop  of  Sultania,  in  Persia 
John  de  Cora,  made  a  brief  record  of  the  state  of  the 
missions  in  China  (A.  D.  1330)  soon  after  the  death 
of  Monte  Corvino.  He  says  of  the  Grand  Khan  that 
"most  willingly  doth  he  suffer  and  encourage  the  friars 
to  preach  the  faith  of  God  in  the  churches  of  the  pagans, 
which  are  called  vritanes  [monasteries].  And  as  will- 
ingly doth  he  permit  the  pagans  to  go  to  hear  the 
preachment  of  the  friars ;  so  that  the  pagans  go  very 
willingly,  and  often  behave  with  great  devoutness,  and 
bestow  upon  the  friars  great  alms." 

The  following  paragraph  from  John  de  Cora  shows 
that  the  Nestorians,  who  had  done  so  much  in  China 
from  the  seventh  to  the  ninth  centuries,  and  had  been 
instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  the  Kerait  Tatars  in 
the  eleventh  century,  had  been  actively  at  work  since, 
perhaps  ever  since,  so  that  now,  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, they  were  numerous  and  influential : 

"These  Nestorians  are  more  than  thirty  thousand,  dwelling 


CHINA  AND  TATARY.  1.3 1 

in  the  said  empire  of  Cathay,  and  are  passing  rich  people,  but 
stand  in  great  fear  and  awe  of  the  Christians.  They  have 
very  handsome  and  devoutly  ordered  churches,  with  crosses 
and  images  in  honor  of  God  and  the  saints.  They  hold  sundry 
offices  under  the  said  emperor,  and  have  great  privileges  from 
him;  so  that  it  is  believed  that  if  they  would  agree  and  be  at 
one  with  the  Minor  Friars,  and  with  the  other  good  Christians 
who  dwell  in  that  country,  they  would  convert  the  whole 
country  and  the  emperor  likewise  to  the  true  faith-" 


CHAPTER    IX. 

CHINA  AND  TATARY,  CONTINUED. 

121.  The  divisions  of  the  Tatar  sovereignty.  122.  Mis- 
sions in  the  Khanate  of  Kiptchak.  123.  In  the  Persian 
Khanate.  124.  In  the  Khanate  of  Chagatai.  125.  The 
close  of  the  second  period.  126.  Missions  to  China  from 
the  Philippines.  127.  First  permanent  modern  mission. 
128.  Adam  Schall.  129.  Martini.  130.  Schall  and  the 
Emperor.  131.  Ferdinand  Verbiest.  132.  Numerical  re- 
sults. 133.  Jesuit  compromises.  134.  Emphasis  placed  on 
the  baptism  of  infants.  135.  Genuine  conversions.  136. 
A  noble  ideal.  137.  Medical  work.  138.  Church  build- 
ing.      139.  Conclusion. 

121.  Kublai  was  the  last  of  the  Khans  to  be 
monarch  of  all  the  Mongols.  His  actual  government 
was  confined  mainly  to  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
country.  The  continental  sovereignty  fell  into  five 
great  divisions,  the  Grand  Khan  being  counted  suzer- 
ain and  receiving  tribute  from  the  others.  In  the 
northwest  was  the  Khanate  of  Kiptchak,  from  West- 
ern Russia  to  the  Merv  oasis;  in  the  west,  the  Khan- 
ate of  Persia,  from  Asia  Minor  to  Khorasan;  in  the 
south  the  Empire  of  the  Great  Moguls  of  India ;  in  the 
center  the  Khanate  of  Chagatai,  known  as  the  Middle 
Empire,  from  Khorasan  to  the  Desert  of  Gobi ;  in  the 
east  the  empire  of  the  Grand  Khan,  from  the  Desert 
132 


CHINA    AND    TATARY,    CONTINUED.  1 33 

of  Gobi  to  the  southern  coast  of  China.  Into  every  one 
of  these  huge  Mongol  realms  Christianity  was  carried 
between  the  eleventh  and  the  fifteenth  centuries. 

122.  The  influence  of  Christianity  on  the  Great 
Mogul  of  India  has  been  noticed  in  the  chapter  on  that 
land.  We  may  take  space  for  only  a  glimpse  of  the 
work  in  the  remaining  Khanates.  Kiptchak,  with  its 
capital,  Serai,  in  Russia  north  of  the  Caspian,  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  Golden  Horde  of  Tatars.  Usbeck, 
a  grandson  of  Jenghiz,  ruled.  He  fell  under  Moham- 
medan influence  and  persecuted  the  Christians  in  his 
realm.  Pope  John  XXII.  sent  him  in  1318  an  earnest 
letter  of  remonstrance  and  of  exhortation  to  become 
a  Christian.  Near  Serai  there  was  a  Franciscan  mis- 
sionary monastery.  In  1334  one  of  its  inmates, 
Stephen,  a  Hungarian,  apostatized  to  Islam.  The  Mo- 
hammedans of  the  capital  made  a  great  celebration 
over  the  event.  But  when  the  poor  man  was  placed 
on  a  platform  in  the  Mosque  to  declare  his  new  faith 
before  thousands,  his  conscience  overcame  him  and  he 
spoke  out  clearly  for  Christ.  As  a  result,  he  suffered  a 
prolonged  and  terrible  martyrdom. 

123.  In  the  Persian  Khanate  we  have  the  name  of 
one  of  the  Oigour  Tatars,  Jaballaha,  who  had  been 
appointed  Nestorian  Archbishop  of  Peking.  Just  then 
the  Patriarch  died  and  Jaballaha,  at  the  request  of  a 
Tatar  Khan  was  raised  to  the  Patriarchate.  At  the 
head  of  the  whole  Nestorian  Church  he  vigorously 
prosecuted  missions  among  his  fellow  Mongols.  Later, 
however,  he  joined  the  Church  of  Rome  (1304). 
There  were  repeated  negotiations  between  Argoun,  the 


134  TW0   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Tatar  Khan  of  Persia  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, the  Pope  and  European  kings,  including  Edward 
I.  of  England  (1272-1307),  for  a  combination  of  forces 
against  the  Mohammedans  in  Syria.  Many  of  the  chief 
people  about  Argoun  were  baptized,  including  one  of 
his  sons,  whose  mother  was  a  zealous  Christian.  This 
Queen  was  a  great-granddaughter  of  Ung-Kalm,  one 
of  the  early  Christian  Khans  of  the  Keraits  in  their 
far  eastern  homes.  The  first  lieutenant  and  the  physi- 
cian of  Argoun  became  Christians.  The  Persian  Khans 
fluctuated  between  Christianity  and  Mohammedanism, 
most  of  them  remaining  pagans  at  heart. 

Karbende  Khan,  son  of  Argoun,  founded  a  new 
capital  in  1305,  calling  it  Sultania,  which  grew  rapidly 
into  greatness  and  splendor.  Here  Franco  of  Perugia 
and  a  number  of  other  Dominicans  did  effective  work. 
Before  many  years  there  were  twenty-five  Christian 
churches  in  Sultania.  In  13 18  it  was  made  the  seat 
of  an  Archbishopric.  Six  missionary  bishops  were 
put  under  the  direction  of  Franco. 

In  Northwest  Persia  the  Franciscans  labored  and 
are  said  to  have  had  10,000  converts  by  the  end  of  the 
century. 

124.  In  the  Khanate  of  Chagatai  ("Middle  Em- 
pire"), south  of  Lake  Balkash,  the  followers  of  Francis 
of  Assisi  had  an  active  mission  and  a  church  building 
in  the  capital,  Almalic.  Francis  of  Alexandria,  a  med- 
ical missionary,  gained  great  influence  over  the  Khan 
by  healing  a  fistula.  The  Khan  allowed  one  of  his 
sons,  a  lad  of  eight,  to  be  baptized  and  taught  by  the 
Franciscans.     One  of  the  missionaries  was  Pascal  of 


CHINA    AND    TATARY,    CONTINUED.  I35 

Vittoria,  Spain.  He  wrote  a  letter  home  in  1338, 
telling  how  he  had  reached  his  field  after  a  tedious 
journey  by  boats  on  the  Black  Sea,  River  Volga  and 
Caspian  Sea,  then  in  carts  drawn  by  camels — "for  to 
ride  those  animals  is  something  terrible."  He  gives 
us  a  thrilling  glimpse  of  missionary  work  in  the  very 
heart  of  Asia  in  the  fourteenth  century : 

"I  was  long  tarrying  among  the  Saracens,  and  I  preached 
to  them  for  several  days  openly  and  publicly  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  gospel.  I  opened  out  and  laid  bare  the 
cheats,  falsehoods  and  blunders  of  their  false  prophet;  with 
a  loud  voice,  and  in  public,  I  did  confound  their  barkings ; 
and  trusting  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  I  was  not  much  afraid 
of  them,  but  received  from  the  Holy  Spirit  comfort  and  light. 
They  treated  me  civilly  and  set  me  in  front  of  their  mosque 
during  their  Easter ;  at  which  mosque,  on  account  of  its  being 
their  Easter,  there  were  assembled  from  divers  quarters  a 
number  of  their  Cadini,  i.  e.,  of  their  bishops,  and  of  their 
Talisimani,  i.  e.,  of  their  priests.  And  guided  by  the  teach- 
ing'of  the  Holy  Ghost  I  disputed  with  them  in  that  same  place 
before  the  mosque,  on  theology,  and  regarding  their  false 
Alchoran  and  its  doctrine,  for  five-and-twenty  days ;  and  in 
fact  I  was  barely  able  once  a  day  to  snatch  a  meal  of  bread 
and  water. 

"But  by  the  grace  of  God  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity 
was  disclosed  and  preached  to  them,  and  at  last  even  they,  in 
spite  of  their  reluctance,  had  to  admit  its  truth ;  and,  thanks 
be  unto  the  Almighty  God,  I  carried  off  the  victory  on  all 
points,  to  the  praise  and  honor  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  Holy 
Mother  Church.  And  then  these  children  of  the  devil  tried 
to  tempt  and  pervert  me  with  bribes,  promising  me  wives  and 
hand-maidens,  gold  and  silver,  and  lands,  horses  and  cattle, 
and  other  delights  of  this  world.  But  when  in  every  way  I 
rejected  all  their  promises  with  scorn,  then  for  two  days  to- 
gether they  pelted  me  with  stones,  besides  putting  fire  to  my 
face  and  my  feet,  plucking  out  my  beard,  and  heaping  upon 


I36  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

me  for  a  length  of  time  all  kinds  of  insult  and  abuse.  The 
blessed  God,  through  whom  poor  I  am  able  to  rejoice  and 
exult  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  knoweth  that  'tis  by  his  mar- 
velous compassion  alone  I  have  been  judged  worthy  to  bear 
such  things  for  his  name. 

"And  now  I  have  been  graciously  brought  to  Armalec,  a 
city  in  the  midst  of  the  land  of  the  Medes  ["Middle  Empire"], 
in  the  vicariat  of  Cathay.  .  .  .  Fare  ye  well  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  pray  for  me,  and  for  those  who  are 
engaged,  or  intend  to  be  engaged  on  missionary  pilgrimages; 
for  by  God's  help  such  pilgrimages  are  very  profitable,  and 
bring  in  a  harvest  of  many  souls.  Care  not  then  to  see  me 
again,  unless  it  be  in  these  regions,  or  in  that  Paradise  wherein 
is  our  Rest  and  Comfort  and  Refreshment  and  Heritage,  even 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Two  years  after  the  writing  of  this  letter  the  new 
emperor,  Alisolda,  commanded  all  Christians  in  his 
domain  to  became  Saracens  or  forfeit  their  lives. 
Pascal  and  six  other  missionaries  yielded  their  lives 
rather  than  to  deny  Christ. 

125.  The  daring  and  brilliant  missionary  work  of 
the  Franciscans  in  far  Cathay  and  in  all  the  realms 
of  the  Tatars  drew  rapidly  to  a  close.  Ten  years  after 
the  death  of  Monte  Corvino,  the  Great  Khan  at  Pe- 
king sent  an  embassy  to  the  Pope  (A.  D.  1338),  who 
sent  in  return  a  number  of  Franciscans  with  John  dc 
Marignolli  at  their  head.  On  the  way  he  visited  the 
mission  in  Chagatai  and  reached  Peking  in  1342.  He 
remained  four  years  in  China,  he  and  his  company  of 
thirty-two  people  being  royally  entertained  by  the 
Great  Khan,  who  bade  them  take  back  to  the  Pope  a 
request  for  a  cardinal  to  be  appointed  for  China.  But 
none  could  be  sent.     In  1368  the  Tatar  dynasty  in 


CHINA   AND    TATARY,    CONTINUED.  1 37 

China  was  overthrown.  Foreigners  were  driven  from 
the  country.  Christianity  was  so  nearly  extinguished 
that  it  was  difficult  for  the  missionaries  of  the  next 
period  to  find  even  its  traces.  The  descendants  of  Jen- 
ghiz,  ruling  over  the  rest  of  Asia,  fell  into  such  violent 
and  incessant  strife  among  themselves  that  anarchy 
began  a  long  reign  and  the  interior  of  the  continent 
was  closed  to  the  outside  world. 

126.  Before  the  departure  of  the  last  of  the  mediae- 
val missionaries  of  whom  we  have  certain  record,  and 
the  arrival  of  the  pioneer  missionary  of  the  modern 
period,  two  hundred  years  elapsed.  Francis  Xavier 
died  (1552)  on  an  island  (San-Chan,  near  Canton) 
on  the  coast  of  the  land  which  he  was  seeking  to  enter. 
Meantime  the  old  Cathay  of  the  Mongols  had  been 
forgotten.  It  was  a  long  time  before  anyone  thought 
to  identify  it  with  China.  A  new  road  had  been  dis- 
covered to  the  Orient  by  sea  around  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  and  another  new  road  around  the  globe  across 
Mexico.  It  was  by  the  latter  that  the  first  modern  mis- 
sionary actually  entered  China. 

Only  ten  years  after  the  beginning  of  permanent 
missions  in  the  Philippines,  they  became  a  base  of 
operations  for  the  regions  beyond.  As  the  quaint 
record  runs,  which  was  made  by  Juan  G.  de  Mendoza 
and  translated  into  English  within  thirteen  years  after 
the  event,  it  was  determined  by  the  Augustinians  at 
Manila  that  "The  religious  men  shoulde  bee  frier  Mar- 
tin de  Herrada  of  Pamplona,  who  left  off  the  dignitie 
of  prouinciall,  and  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  of 
a  holy  life;  and  for  the  same  effect  had  learned  the 


I38  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

China  tongue,  and  manie  times  for  to  put  his  desire 
in  execution  did  offer  himselfe  to  bee  slaue  vnto  the 
merchants  of  China,  onely  for  to  carry  him  thither; 
and  in  companie  with  him  should  go  frier  Hieronimo 
Martin,  who  also  was  verie  well  learned,  and  of  the 
cittie  of  Mexico."    This  was  in  1575. 

July  2,  1578,  the  first  Franciscans  reached  the  Philip- 
pines, fourteen  in  number,  with  Pedro  6c  Alfaro  at 
their  head.  He  was  eager  to  go  on  to  China,  espe- 
cially after  the  conversion  of  a  Chinaman  at  Manila, 
and,  not  being  able  to  gain  the  governor's  consent,  he 
took  three  of  his  companions,  none  of  them  seamen, 
and  slipped  away  without  permission  in  a  small  boat. 
They  finally  reached  Canton.  This  mission,  with  all 
its  bold  venturesomeness,  came  to  no  permanent  re- 
sults. But  Mendoza's  charming  account  of  these 
events,  in  which  he  had  some  part,  ought  to  be  read 
by  every  one  who  can  get  access  to  Park's  translation, 
made  in  1588. 

127.  It  was  only  four  years  after  the  heroic  attempt 
of  Alfaro  that  a  permanent  missionary  lodgment  in 
China  was  effected  (1583).  This  was  achieved  by 
Matteo  Ricci  and  two  other  members  of  the  Com- 
pany of  Jesus.  Ricci  toiled  for  nearly  eighteen 
years  in  southern  China,  then  made  his  way 
in  a  long  evangelistic  tour  through  great  ob- 
stacles across  the  country  to  Peking  (1601).  With- 
out knowing  it,  he  was  following  the  track  of  Odoric 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  before.  His  knowledge 
of  science,  especially  mathematics,  procured  him  ad- 
mission to  government  circles  and  employment.     He 


JOHANN   ADAM   VON  SCHALL. 

(As  a  Mandarin.) 


CHINA   AND    TATARY,    CONTINUED.  139 

made  a  better  map  for  the  emperor  than  he  had  pos- 
sessed. His  Majesty  ordered  ten  copies  painted  on  silk 
and  hung  in  his  palace.  The  Jesuits  decorated  the  mar- 
gins with  Christian  texts  and  symbols. 

In  1610  the  Chinese  astronomers  had  predicted  an 
eclipse  of  the  moon,  far  from  the  true  time.  The  mis- 
sionaries' prediction  proving  to  be  correct,  won  them 
additional  influence.  Ricci  religiously  refused  any 
remuneration  for  his  public  services,  but  was  rewarded 
with  the  privilege  of  promulgating  Christianity.  One 
of  the  high  officers  of  the  empire,  Seu  by  name,  was 
converted  and  christened  Paul.  Some  of  the  descend- 
ants of  Paul  Seu  are  to  this  day  in  the  Roman  fold. 
Three  princes  of  the  imperial  family  joined  the  church 
and  afterward  suffered  the  severest  penalties  for  their 
faith.  Paul  Seu  and  his  daughter  Candida  were  in- 
strumental in  building  thirty-nine  churches  in  various 
provinces  and  in  printing  one  hundred  and  thirty 
Christian  works  in  Chinese.  He  also  had  much  to  do 
in  the  reversal  of  an  edict  of  expulsion  in  1622,  after 
it  had  been  in  more  or  less  efficient  operation  for  seven 
years. 

128.  The  next  great  missionary  in  China  was  a  man 
of  Teutonic  race,  Adam  Schall  of  Cologne.  He  most 
worthily  wore  the  mantle  of  Ricci.  From  the  work  of 
Schall  in  one  of  the  provinces,  Paul  discovered  his  tal- 
ents and  introduced  him  to  the  Emperor.  He  became 
the  Astronomer  Royal  and  in  conjunction  with  another 
missionary,  Giacomo  Rho,  revised  the  imperial  calen- 
dar. He  was  so  useful  to  the  government  that  his 
work  continued  through  three  reigns,  the  second  of 


I4O  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

the  three  being  the  beginning  of  a  new  dynasty  (1644), 
that  of  the  Manchu  Tatars,  who  are  still  on  the  throne. 
Again,  as  in  the  time  of  Jenghiz,  four  hundred  years 
before,  the  southern  provinces  held  out  against  the 
Tatar  usurpers  longer  than  the  northern.  There  Yun- 
lie,  one  of  the  old  imperial  family,  was  proclaimed  em- 
peror. His  mother,  wife  and  son  were  baptized  as 
Helena,  Maria  and  Constantine.  Two  Christian  gen- 
erals made  good  headway  for  a  little  time  against 
the  Tatar  army.  But  the  Manchus  soon  completed 
the  conquest  of  the  country.  Yunlie  and  Constantine 
lost  their  lives  and  Helena  was  taken  captive  to  Peking. 
129.  At  the  time  of  the  Tatar  invasion  the  Jesuits 
were  scattered  throughout  China.  Many  of  them  per- 
ished with  their  flocks  at  the  hands  of  the  fierce  in- 
vaders. But  many  escaped.  The  following  story  by 
Verbiest  concerning  Martini  throws  vivid  light  on  the 
ways  of  both  missionaries  and  Tatars : 

"As  soon  as  he  learnt  that  the  Tartars  were  about  to  enter 
the  town,  he  put  upon  the  door  of  his  house  an  inscription  in 
these  words :  'Here  resides  a  doctor  of  the  divine  law,  come 
from  the  Great  West.'  In  the  vestibule  he  placed  a  number  of 
tables  covered  with  books,  telescopes,  burning-glasses,  and 
similar  articles,  which  excite  great  admiration  and  respect  in 
those  countries.  In  the  middle  of  it  all  he  erected  an  altar, 
and  placed  upon  it  an  image  of  the  Saviour.  This  spectacle 
was  attended  with  all  the  effect  which  he  anticipated.  The 
Tartars  were  much  impressed,  and  far  from  injuring  any  one, 
their  chief  sent  for  the  father,  received  him  very  favorably, 
and,  unwilling  to  compel  him  to  forsake  the  national  dress, 
he  asked  him  frankly  if  he  had  any  objection  to  having  his 
hair  cut  off.  As  the  father  made  no  opposition  the  captain  had 
it  cut  off  in  his  presence ;  and  when  the  father  observed  to 


CHINA  AND  TATARY,  CONTINUED.  I4I 

him  laughingly  that  the  Chinese  dress  which  he  still  wore  did 
not  suit  with  his  shorn  head,  the  Tatar  took  off  his  own  boots 
and  cap  and  made  him  put  them  on ;  and  after  entertaining  him 
at  his  own  table,  he  sent  him  back  to  his  church  with  letters 
and  passports,  which  effectually  protected  him  and  his  fellow- 
Christians  from  the  insults  of  the  soldiery." 

130.  Under  the  Emperor  Chunchi,  many  converts 
were  made  and  churches  were  built.  The  missionary 
force  from  Europe  was  greatly  increased.  Verbiest 
tells  us  that  the  Emperor 

"Chunchi  placed  the  most  boundless  confidence  in  his  [Adam 
Schall's]  honesty  and  was  so  well  assured  of  his  affection 
that  he  always  listened  patiently  to  the,  frequent  and  severe 
rebukes  which  this  faithful  servant  administered  to  him,  though 
they  might  condemn  many  of  his  pleasures;  and  even  if  he 
did  not  invariably  reform  his  conduct,  he  had  the  candor  to 
confess  that  he  would  have  done  better  to  have  followed  his 
advice.  The  grandees,  who  saw  what  a  powerful  influence 
Father  Adam  exerted  over  the  mind  of  the  prince,  often  em- 
ployed him  to  communicate  what  they  had  not  the  courage 
to  say  themselves." 

Then  follow  a  number  of  specific  instances.  ^  Hopes 
were  entertained  of  the  Emperor's  conversion.  But  he 
fell  into  sin  and  idolatry  much  as  Solomon  had  done 
centuries  before  him. 

After  the  death  of  Chunchi,  a  regency  was  in  charge 
of  the  government  for  a  time.  It  was  memorialized 
by  the  bonzes,  leaders  of  paganism,  and  induced  to 
institute  a  vigorous  persecution.  Even  Schall,  after, 
all  his  invaluable  services,  was  loaded  with  irons  and 
condemned  to  be  strangled  and  cut  in  pieces.  The 
sentence  was  recalled  later,  but  the  venerable  scholar, 
broken  down,  suffered  a  stroke  of  paralysis  and  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 


142  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

131.  Another  Teutonic  missionary,  a  Fleming,  Fer 
dinand  Verbiest,  succeeded  Schall  as  the  scientific  ad- 
visor of  the  Emperor.  Verbiest  learned  the  Tatar  lan- 
guage so  as  to  be  able  to  instruct  the  young  sovereign 
without  the  intervention  of  an  interpreter.  At  the 
Emperor's  behest  he  also  superintended  the  casting  of 
cannon,  and  turned  out  three  hundred  and  twenty 
pieces  of  artillery.  These  wise  sons  of  Loyola  did  not 
forget  their  direct  missionary  work  and  their  standing 
secured  opportunity  for  a  host  of  the  Company  of 
Jesus  to  invade  various  parts  of  China.  Verbiest  was 
followed  to  the  grave  not  only  by  a  large  gathering 
of  his  fellow  missionaries,  but  also  by  Mandarins  espe- 
cially appointed  by  the  Emperor  to  pay  that  tribute. 
Verbiest's  place  as  Superintendent  of  the  Board  of 
Mathematics  was  filled  by  another  missionary,  Pe- 
reira  Verbiest  and  Pereira  stood  so  close  to  Kang-hi 
that  he  took  them  with  him  on  his  annual  hunting  ex- 
peditions into  the  wilds  beyond  the  great  wall. 

132.  The  standing  of  the  learned  missionaries  at 
court  kept  the  way  open  for  missionary  work  through- 
out the  country.  A  great  many  obscure  but  devoted 
men  of  the  Company  of  Jesus  worked  in  the  ways  thus 
opened.  They  were  followed  by  not  a  few  Francis- 
cans and  Dominicans.  At  the  death  of  Ricci,  the  first 
modern  missionary  in  China,  in  1610,  after  twenty- 
seven  years  of  labor,  there  were  more  than  three  hun- 
dred churches  there.  The  work  was  so  carried  on  by  the 
coadjutors  and  successors  of  Ricci  that  by  the  year  1664 
1,616  churches  had  been  established  in  five  provinces. 
In  that  year  there  were  said  to  be  257,000  converts 


CHINA    AND    TATARY,    CONTINUED.  I43 

under  the  care  of  the  Jesuits  and  10,000  more  in 
churches  organized  by  the  Dominican  and  Franciscan 
missionaries.  In  1672,  according  to  Pereira,  "a  ma- 
ternal uncle  of  the  Emperor  and  one  of  the  eight  per- 
petual generals  who  command  the  Tatar  militia  re- 
ceived baptism  and  from  that  time  the  gospel  has 
spread  so  widely  over  China  that  the  number  of  Chris- 
tians is  estimated  at  300,000." 

133.  In  China,  as  in  India,  the  Jesuits  made  com- 
promises with  heathenism  which  will  not  bear  the  light 
of  the  highest  standards  of  Christian  morality.  It  was 
well  that  they  were  closely  watched  by  rival  religious 
orders  of  their  own  church.  As  early  as  1645  the 
question  was  referred  to  the  authorities  in  Rome 
"Whether  in  regard  to  the  frailty  of  the  people,  it 
could  be  tolerated  for  the  present  that  Christian  magis- 
trates may  carry  a  cross  hidden  under  the  flowers 
which  were  presented  at  the  heathen  altars  and  secretly 
worship  that,  while  they  are  in  outward  form  and  ap- 
pearance worshiping  the  idol."  This  duplicity  was 
forbidden  from  Rome.  Many  similar  questions  arose. 
Two  violent  parties  were  formed.  The  method  of  the 
Jesuits  in  China  became  a  prominent  part  of  the  world- 
wide indictment  against  them.  They  are  not  to  be 
justified;  but  it  is  only  fair  to  moderate  the  bitterness 
of  condemnation  by  looking  through  their  own  eyes 
at  their  perplexities  and  their  way  of  meeting  them. 
John  de  Fontenay,  writing  in  1704,  describes  without 
disapproval  the  way  in  which  a  native  helper  dealt 
with  an  inquirer. 

"The  young  man  owned  frankly  to  his  countryman,  that  h;s 


144  TW0   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

relations  often  performed  the  ceremony  of  honoring  their  An- 
cestors. Now  should  I  refuse  to  join  with  them  on  these 
occasions  they  would  turn  me  out  of  doors;  and  perhaps  in- 
form against  me  to  the  Mandarins,  as  one  who  is  wanting  in 
the  respect  and  gratitude  due  to  parents.  This  is  the  reason 
why  I  cannot  possibly  become  a  Christian. 

"But   who   told   you,    replied  the   Catechist,   that   you   may 
not   assist    at    these    ceremonies   after    your   conversion?    I 
myself,  by  God's  grace,  am  a  Christian,  and  I  assist  at  those 
ceremonies    when    necessarily    obliged    to    it.      The    Christian 
religion  forbids  us  only  to  ask  or  expect  favors  or  blessings 
from  our  deceased  parents ;   to  believe  that  it  is  in  their  power 
to  do  us  any,  or  that  they  are  present  in  the  picture ;    to  sup- 
pose that  they  come  to  hear  our  prayers,  or  to  receive  our 
gifts.     It  also  will  not  permit  our  burning  paper  money,  or 
pouring  on  the  ground  the  wine  which  we  offer  to  them.     But 
it  does  not  forbid  our  owning  the  obligations  which  we  have 
to  them,  for  our  birth  and  education ;    nor  thanking  them  for 
it,  by  falling  prostrate  before  the  picture  on  which  their  names 
are  writ,  and  by  offering  them  our  possessions.     If  I  may  be 
allowed,  says  the  young  man,  to  go  with  my  parents,  and  fall 
prostrate  before  the  images  of  my  ancestors,  I  have  no  further 
difficulties  to  struggle  with,  and  will  turn  Christian  this  in- 
stant.   The  Catechist  brought  him  to  me  two  days  after,  tell- 
ing me  the  frame  of  mind  he  was  in.    The  young  man  begged 
my  pardon   for  having   so   long  resisted   the  celestial    grace, 
and  besought  me  to  baptize  him,  declaring  that  neither  himself 
nor  his  relations  expected  any  blessing  from  their  ancestors 
in  paying  them  the  accustomed  honors.     I  did  not  think  it 
proper  to  exclude  a  man  who  had  so  lively  a  faith  from  the 
kingdom  of  heaven." 

134.  With  the  missionaries  of  Rome  in  every  land 
the  great  hope  of  saving  souls  rested  on  infant  bap- 
tism. The  following  is  an  account  of  that  feature  of 
their  work  in  China,  as  given  approvingly  by  Verolles : 
"The  agents  in  this  work  are  usually  elderly  women,  who 
have  experience  in  infantile  diseases.     Furnished  with  inno- 


CHINA   AND    TATARY,    CONTINUED.  '     I45 

cent  pills  and  a  bottle  of  holy  water,  whose  virtues  they  extol, 
they  introduce  themselves  into  the  houses  where  there  are 
sick  infants  and  discover  whether  they  are  in  danger  of  death, 
and  in  this  case  they  inform  the  parents  and  tell  them  that 
before  administering  other  remedies  they  must  wash  their 
hands  with  the  purifying  waters  of  their  bottle.  The  parents, 
not  suspecting  this  pious  ruse,  readily  consent,  and  by  these 
innocent  frauds  we  procure  in  our  mission  the  baptism  of 
7,000  or  8,000  infants  every  year." 

135.  It  is  to  be  profoundly  regretted,  for  the  sake 
of  the  world,  that  the  widespread,  often  sincere  and 
truly  heroic  work  of  the  Company  of  Jesus  must  be 
seriously  discounted.  Every  honest  mind  will  cherish 
with  satisfaction  the  knowledge  that  their  work  was 
not  all  bad  nor  always  bad.  The  following,  related  by 
De  Chavagnac  in  1701,  is  a  sparkling  rill  out  of  the 
great  stream  of  real  religion  introduced  into  China  by 
the  Jesuits: 

"We  are  now  laboring  at  the  conversion  of  a  Tartarian 
officer,  who  was  prevailed  upon  by  an  accident  which  reflects 
great  honor  on  the  Christian  religion  to  get  himself  instructed 
of  the  law  of  Christ.  He  was  going  on  horseback  to  Peking, 
when  happening  to  let  fall  his  purse,  a  poor  Christian  artificer 
who  saw  it  fall  took  it  up  and  ran  after  him  in  order  to  re- 
store it.  The  officer  surveyed  the  poor  man  with  an  air  of 
contempt,  and  not  knowing  his  business,  spurred  his  horse ; 
notwithstanding  which  the  Christian  would  not  go  away,  but 
followed  him  quite  home.  There  the  exasperated  Tartar  first 
gave  him  foul  language  and  asked  him  what  he  wanted;  to 
which  the  Christian  replied :  'My  only  business  is  to  return 
you  your  purse.'  This  surprised  the  Tartar,  who  then  changing 
his  note,  inquired  how  he  came  to  return  him  his  money,  con- 
trary to  the  customs  of  the  Empire,  which  permit  every  man  to 
keep  whatever  he  finds.  To  this  the  artificer  replied :  'I  am  a 
Christian  and  am  enjoined  to  do  as  I  have  now  done  by  the 


I46  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

precepts  of  the  religion  I  profess.'  This  answer  raised  the 
officer's  curiosity,  who  thereupon  was  desirous  of  knowing 
what  this  religion  was.  Accordingly  he  visited  our  fathers, 
listened  to  them,  and  seemed  to  entertain  the  highest  esteem 
for  the  several  particulars  they  told  him,  concerning  the  mys- 
teries and  maxims  of  the  Christian  law.  We  hope  grace  will 
compleat  what  has  been  so  happily  begun  in  him." 

136.  De  Chavagnac,  in  response  to  request  from  his 
superior  officer  in  Europe,  sent  home  an  account  of 
what  he  thought  a  missionary  in  China  ought  to  be. 
This  ideal,  expressed  with  French  clearness  and  charm 
at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  is  worth 
keeping  in  mind  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury. Chinese  characteristics  remaining  the  same,  the 
qualifications   for  work  among  them  do  not  greatly 

change. 

"First,  Persons  are  required,  who  have  formed  the  strongest 
Resolution  to  suffer  all  Things  for  Christ's  sake;  and  to  be- 
come new  Men,  as  it  were,  not  only  as  they  must  change  their 
Climate,  their  Dress,  and  their  Food ;  but  still  more,  as  they 
must  practice  Manners,  the  very  reverse  of  those  of  our  Coun- 
trymen the  French.  That  Man  who  has  not  this  Talent,  or  will 
not  endeavor  to  acquire  it,  should  lay  aside  all  Thoughts  of 
coming  to  China.  Those  also  are  unfit  who  are  not  Masters 
of  their  Temper ;  for  a  Man  of  a  hasty  Turn  would  sometimes 
make  dreadful  Havock  here.  The  Genius  of  the  Chineze 
requires  Men  to  be  Masters  of  their  Passions;  and  especially 
of  a  certain  turbulent  Activity,  which  is  for  bearing  down 
every  Thing.  A  Chineze  has  not  Abilities  to  comprehend,  in 
a  Month,  what  a  Frenchman  can  inform  him  of  in  an  Hour. 
He  must  bear  patiently  with  that  Indolence  and  Slowness  of 
Apprehension  which  is  natural  to  them;  must  boldly  incul- 
cate the  Truths  of  Religion  to  a  Nation,  who  stand  in  fear  of 
no  one  but  the  Emperor ;  whoce  only  Thirst  is  that  of  Money, 
and  who  consequently  are  wholly  indifferent  with  regard  to 
all  Things  relating  to  Eternity.     Every  Missionary  who  is  not 


CHINA   AND    TATARY,    CONTINUED.  1 47 

inspired  with  the  strongest  Spirit  of  Patience  and  Modera- 
tion is  put  to  the  most  severe  Trial. 

"The  Difficulty  of  the  Chineze  Language,  and  its  Character, 
requires  also  a  Person  who  delights  in  Study;  though  he 
finds  nothing  pleasing  in  it,  except  the  Hopes  that  he  may  one 
Day  employ  it  successfully  to  the  Glory  of  God.  As  he  always 
has  an  Opportunity  of  learning  something  on  these  Occasions, 
he  consequently  may  spend  a  great  Part  of  his  Time  this  way; 
and  he  must  accustom  himself  perpetually  to  shift  from  Action 
to  Study,  and  from  Study  to  his  Ministerial  Functions. 
Farther,  'tis  well  known  that  the  Chineze  boast  their  being  the 
most  civilized  and  most  accomplished  People  on  Earth,  but 
an  European  can  scarce  conceive  how  difficult  it  is  for  a  For- 
eigner to  acquire  the  Chineze  Politeness.  The  Ceremonial 
of  this  Country  is  surprisingly  fatiguing  to  a  Frenchman, 
it  being  one  Business  to  acquire  the  Theory  of  it  and  another 
to  put  it  in  Practice.  In  proportion  as  a  Person  excels  in  the 
European  Sciences,  the  more  likely  it  is  for  him  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  Nation  in  Question  (particularly  with  their 
great  Men),  who  have  Foreigners  in  the  utmost  Contempt. 
Thus  you  perceive,  reverend  Father,  how  absolutely  necessary 
it  is  for  a  Person  to  have  the  strongest  Command  over  his 
Passions,  in  these  Missions  more  than  in  any  other.  I  omit 
to  mention  the  Christian  and  Religious  Virtues  he  ought  to 
possess;  without  these  it  is  impossible  for  any  Man,  either 
here  or  in  any  other  Country,  to  save  his  own  Soul,  or  to 
make  any  considerable  Progress  in  the  Conversion  of  others." 
137.  The  influence  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  at  the 
Chinese  court  continued  into  the  eighteenth  century. 
Not  only  their  science,  but  also  their  practical  arts, 
especially  that  best  of  missionary  arts,  the  art  of  medi- 
cine, gave  them  deserved  standing.  Let  the  account 
stand  in  the  original  words  of  De  Fontanay: 

"But  the  circumstance  which  procures  us  the  greatest  access 
to,  and  credit  with,  the  chief  officers  of  the  Empire  is  the 
favor  with  which  the  Monarch  is  still  so  gracious  as  to  indulge 


I48  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

us,  and  which  we  endeavor  to  render  ourselves  worthy  of  by 
the  service  we  do  him.  For  although  he  does  not  seem  to  pur- 
sue, with  so  much  assiduity  as  formerly,  the  study  of  mathe- 
matics, and  the  rest  of  the  European  sciences,  in  which  he  is 
very  skillful,  we  nevertheless  are  obliged  to  go  frequently  to 
the  palace,  that  Prince  having  always  some  question  or  other 
to  propose.  He  employs  day  and  night  in  works  of  Charity, 
Brothers  Frapperie,  Baudin  and  de  Rodes,  who  are  expert  at 
healing  wounds  and  preparing  medicines,  he  sending  them  to 
visit  the  officers  of  his  household,  and  persons  of  the  highest 
distinction  in  Peking,  whenever  they  are  indisposed,  and  is  so 
well  satisfied  with  their  services  that  he  never  makes  a  prog- 
ress into  Tartary,  or  the  Provinces  of  the  Empire,  without 
taking  one  of  them  with  him.  This  great  monarch  is  also 
exceedingly  well  pleased  with  Father  Jartoux,  and  Brother 
Brocard,  they  going  every  day  to  the  Palace,  by  his  Majesty's 
express  order.  The  former  is  exceedingly  well  skilled  in 
algebra,  mechanics,  and  the  theory  of  clocks ;  and  the  latter 
has  a  very  delicate  hand  in  making  various  curious  works 
which  please  the  Emperor.  But  though  they  are  so  much 
employed  by  the  Prince,  they  yet  find  time  to  preach  Christ, 
and  to  instill  his  doctrine  into  such  officers  of  the  Palace  as 
are  ordered  to  treat  with  them. 

138.  "On  the  front  of  the  fine  church  lately  built  by  us  in 
the  first  inclosure  of  the  Palace,  in  sight  of  the  whole  em- 
pire, the  following  words  are  engraved,  in  gold,  in 
large  Chinese  characters :  Tien-chu  tung-chi  Kien;  Coeli 
Domini  Temphim  mandato  Imperatoris  erectum:  i.  e. 
'The  Temple  of  the  Lord  of  Heaven,  built  by  the 
Emperor's  order.'  This  is  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful edifices  in  Peking;  we  not  having  spared  any  of 
those  ornaments,  etc.,  which  might  raise  the  curiosity  of  the 
Chinese;  and  invite  to  it  the  Mandarins,  and  the  most  con- 
siderable personages  of  the  Empire,  thereby  to  get  an  oppor- 
tunity of  speaking  to  them  concerning  God,  and  instructing 
them  in  our  mysteries.  Though  this  church  was  not  quite 
finished  when  I  left  Peking,  nevertheless  the  Heir-apparwit, 


CHINA  AND  TATARY,  CONTINUED.  I49 

the  Emperor's  two  brothers,  the  Princes  their  children,  and 
the  greatest  Lords  of  the  Court,  had  been  several  times  to 
view  it.  Such  Mandarins  as  are  sent  into  the  Provinces,  ex- 
cited by  the  like  curiosity,  come  thither  also;  and  there  form 
to  themselves  a  favorable  idea  of  our  religion,  which  is  of 
great  service  to  us  when  they  return  to  their  several  govern- 
ments." 

139.  Early  then  in  the  eighteenth  century  the  Roman 
Church  was  well  established  in  China.  As  our  pres- 
ent pursuit  is  not  church  history,  but  the  first  plant- 
ing of  Christianity,  we  are  not  to  follow  further  the 
story  of  Rome  in  China.  By  the  year  1724  she  had 
sent  five  hundred  missionaries  to  that  land  in  the 
modern  period.  Ricci  had  the  start  of  the  first  Prot- 
estant missionary  in  China  by  just  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  years. 

All  honor  to  the  Nestorians,  Franciscans  and  Jesuits 
who  gave  their  lives  according  to  their  light  for  the 
redemption  of  China. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS. 


140.  The  missionary  motive  in  the  Spanish  conquest. 
141.  "Conquests  for  the  benefit  of  the  conquered."  142. 
Magellan  as  a  missionary.  143.  The  responsiveness  of 
the  Filipinos.  144.  The  baptism  of  King  Humabon 
and  his  family.  145.  The  cross  substituted  for  idols. 
146.  The  expedition  under  General  Legaspi.  147.  Ur- 
dinseta's  return  to  Spain.  148.  Supplies  for  the  mis- 
sion.        149.  The  success  of  Herrera's  mission  to  Spain. 

150.  The  development  of  the  mission  work  in  the  islands. 

151.  The  attack  of  the  Chinese  corsair.  152.  Captain  Am- 
nion's pursuit.  153.  Attempts  to  send  missionaries  to 
China.  154.  Captain  Amnion's  return  to  China  with  two 
"ambassadors  from  Manila."  155.  The  return  to  Ma- 
nila.        156.  The     resentment    of    the    Chinese    captains. 

157.  Herrera's  second  visit  to  Spain  to  secure  missionaries. 

158.  The  devotion  of  the  early  friars.  159.  Some  results 
of  the  early  mission  work.  160.  The  support  of  the  mis- 
sions. 161.  A  voyage  of  one  of  the  galleons.  162.  The 
religious  orders  in  the  Philippines.  163.  Missions  to  for- 
eign residents  in  Manila.         164.  The  Ladrone  Islands. 

140.  Antonio  de  Morga,  for  eight  years  Lieutenant 
Governor  of  the  Philippines  in  the  first  generation  of 
Spanish  occupation,  tells  in  the  preface  to  his  work  on 
the  Philippines,  published  in  Mexico,  1609,  how  large 
a  place  the  missionary  motive  held  in  the  world-wide 
conquests  of  Spain.  We  shall  see  this  more  fully  in 
connection  with  Spanish  missions  in  America.     But, 

150 


THE    PHILIPPINE   ISLANDS.  151 

listen  a  moment  to  old  Antonio  de  Morga.    He  says  of 
the  Spaniards  : 

"By  the  valor  of  their  indomitable  hearts,  and  at  the  ex- 
pense of  their  revenues  and  property,  with  Spanish  fleets  and 
men,  they  have  furrowed  the  seas  and  discovered  and  con- 
quered vast  kingdoms  in  the  most  remote  and  unknown  parts 
of  the  world,  leading  their  inhabitants  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
true  God,  and  to  the  fold  of  the  Christian  church,  in  which 
they  now  live,  governed  in  civil  and  political  matters  with 
peace  and  justice,  under  the  shelter  and  protection  of  the  royal 
arm  and  power  which  was  wanting  to  them ;  weighed  down 
as  they  were  by  blind  tyrannies  and  barbarous  cruelties,  with 
which  the  enemy  of  the  human  race  had  for  so  long  afflicted 
them  and  brought  them  up  for  himself. 

"From  this  cause  the  crown  and  scepter  of  Spain  has  come 
to  extend  itself  over  all  that  the  sun  looks  on,  from  its  rising 
to  its  setting,  with  the  glory  and  splendor  of  its  power  and 
majesty;  but  surpassing  any  of  the  other  princes  of  the  earth 
by  having  gained  innumerable  souls  for  heaven,  which  has 
been  Spain's  principal  intention  and  wealth." 

141.  These  glowing  words  as  to  the  conquests  of 
Spain  for  the  benefit  of  the  conquered,  which  we  are 
hearing  echoed  by  the  United  States  three  hundred 
years  later,  are  more  just  and  truthful  concerning  the 
work  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  Philippines  than  almost 
anywhere  else.  There  the  lust  for  gold  found  less 
stimulus  to  brutalize  their  dominion  than  it  had  found 
in  Mexico  and  Peru. 

One  of  the  particulars  in  which  the  Filipinos  were 
much  better  treated  than  the  natives  of  New  Spain  or 
Mexico  was  in  the  entire  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
archipelago  by  papal  brief,  dated  April  18,  1591.  It 
emancipated  all  slaves  and  prohibited  any  enslavement 
of  the  natives  for  the  future. 


152  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Even  Foreman,  who  describes  at  length  the  quarrels 
of  the  Church  with  the  State  in  these  islands,  and  of 
the  religious  orders  with  each  other,  and  goes  into  de- 
tail about  the  black  sheep  among  the  friars,  says  that 
it  was  the  missionaries  rather  than  the  soldiers  who  es- 
tablished Spanish  rule  and  civilization  in  the  islands. 
He  also  says  that  "for  many  years  after  the  conquest, 
deep  religious  sentiment  pervaded  the  State  policy, 
and  not  a  few  of  the  Governors-General  acquired  fame 
for  their  demonstration  of  piety." 

142.  The  Spanish  conquest  of  the  Philippines  began 
with  the  landing  of  Magellan  on  the  island  of  Cebu  in 
1 52 1.  He  was  received  by  the  Filipinos  with  friendli- 
ness, and  he  made  blood  brotherhood  with  the  king  of 
the  island  of  Cebu.  Pigafetta,  who  accompanied  Magel- 
lan and  was  the  historian  of  the  voyage,  tells  the  story 
of  the  first  attempt  to  evangelize  the  Filipinos.  Ma- 
gellan 

"Told  them  that  we  were  all  alike  subject  to  the  same  divine 
laws,  as  we  were  all  alike  descended  from  Adam  and  Eve. 
He  added  other  observations  from  holy  writ,  which  afforded 
much  pleasure  to  these  islanders,  and  inspired  them  with 
desire  of  being  instructed  in  our  religion ;  so  much  so,  indeed, 
that  they  besought  the  captain  to  leave  with  them,  at  our 
departure  one  or  two  men  capable  of  teaching  them,  who 
would  not  fail  of  being  held  in  great  honor.  But  the  captain 
informed  them  that  if  they  wished  to  be  Christians  his  priest 
would  baptize  them,  but  that  he  could  not  on  this  occasion 
leave  any  of  his  people  behind  him ;  but  that  he  would  return 
on  a  future  day,  and  bring  with  him  priests  and  monks  to  in- 
struct them  in  all  things  belonging  to  our  holy  religion. 

143.  "At  this  they  expressed  their  satisfaction,  and  added 
that  they  themselves  would  be  glad  to  receive  baptism ;  but 
that  they  must  first  consult  their  monarch  on  this   subject. 


THE    PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS.  153 

Each  of  us  wept  for  the  joy  which  we  felt  at  the  good  will  of 
these  people.  The  captain  then  admonished  them  by  no  means 
to  be  baptized  through  any  dread  with  which  we  might  have 
inspired  them,  nor  through  any  expectation  of  temporal  ad- 
vantage ;  for  it  was  not  his  intention  to  molest  any  one  on  ac- 
count of  his  preferring  the  religion  of  his  fathers;  he  did  not, 
however,  disguise  that  those  who  should  become  Christians 
would  be  more  beloved  and  better  dealt  with.  Every  one 
upon  this  exclaimed  that  it  was  neither  out  of  dread  of  nor 
complaisance  towards  us,  that  they  sought  to  embrace  our 
religion,  but  from  a  spontaneous  emotion,  and  of  their  own 
will." 

144.  The  King,  after  some  deliberation,  promised 
the  captain  to  embrace  the  Christian  faith,  and  Sunday, 
the  14th  of  April,  was  fixed  upon  for  the  ceremony. 

"With  this  intent  a  scaffold  was  raised  on  Saturday  in  the 
place  we  had  already  consecrated,  which  was  covered  with 
tapestry  and  branches  of  palm.  .  .  .  About  forty  of  us 
landed,  exclusive  of  two  men  armed  cap-a-pie,  who  followed 
the  royal  standard.  At  the  instant  of  our  landing  the  vessels 
fired  a  general  salute,  which  did  not  fail  of  alarming  the  island- 
ers. The  captain  and  the  King  embraced.  We  ascended  the 
scaffold,  on  which  were  placed  two  chairs  for  them,  one  cov- 
ered with  red  and  the  other  with  blue  velvet.  The  chiefs  of 
the  island  were  seated  on  cushions,  and  the  rest  of  the  assem- 
blage on  mats.  .  .  .  The  captain  then  taking  the 
King  by  the  hand  conducted  him  to  the  platform,  where  he 
was  drest  entirely  in  white,  and  was  baptized,  together  with 
the  King  of  Meffana,  the  Prince,  his  nephew,  the  Moorish 
merchant,  and  others,  in  number  five  hundred.  The  King, 
who  was  called  Rajah  Humabon,  received  the  name  of  Charles, 
after  the  Emperor ;  the  others  received  other  names.  Mass 
was  afterwards  celebrated,  after  which  the  captain  invited 
the  King  to  dinner;  but  his  Majesty  excused  himself,  accom- 
panying us,  however,  to  the  boats  which  took  us  back  to  the 
squadron,     on     which     another    general     salute     was     fired. 


154  TW0   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

"Soon  as  we  had  dined  we  went  on  shore  in  great  num- 
bers, with  our  almoner,  to  baptize  the  Queen  and  other 
women.  We  ascended  the  platform  with  them.  I  showed 
the  Queen  a  small  image  of  the  Virgin  with  the  infant  Jesus, 
with  which  she  was  much  affected  and  delighted.  She  begged 
it  of  me  to  replace  her  idols,  and  with  great  willingness  I 
acceded  to  her  request.  The  Queen  receivd  the  name  of 
Jane,  from  the  mother  of  the  Emperor ;  the  Prince's  spouse 
that  of  Catherine,  and  the  Queen  of  Meffana  that  of  Isabella. 
On  that  day  we  baptized  altogether  more  than  eight  hundred 
persons — men,  women,  and  children.     .     .     . 

145.  "After  erecting  a  large  cross  in  the  middle  of  the  place, 
a  proclamation  was  issued  ordering  that  all  who  were  in- 
clined to  become  Christians  should  destroy  their  idols  and 
substitute  the  cross  in  their  stead. 

"At  this  time  all  the  inhabitants  of  Cebu  and  the  neighboring 
islands  were  baptized,  those  of  one  village  in  one  of  the  islands 
alone  excepted,  who  refused  obedience  to  the  injunctions  of  the 
King  or  our  captain-general ;  after  burning  the  village,  a  cross 
was  erected  on  the  spot,  because  it  was  a  village  of  idolaters ; 
if  the  inhabitants  had  been  Moors,  i.  e.,  Mahometans,  a  pillar 
of  stone  would  have  been  raised  to  mark  the  hardness  of  their 
hearts.  .  .  .  The  captain-general  landed  every 
day  to  hear  mass,  on  which  occasion  many  new  Christians  also 
attended,  for  whom  he  made  a  kind  of  catechism  in  which 
nany  points  of  our  religion  were  explained." 

Poor  Magellan  lost  his  life  in  a  foolish  expedition 
against  some  of  the  enemies  of  the  new  "Christian 
King."  'Then  the  latter  conspired  with  Magellan's 
slave  and  interpreter  to  destroy  all  the  Spaniards.  So 
ended  the  first  mission  to  the  Philippines.  Many  years 
after,  when  actual  missionaries  came  to  Cebu,  they 
found  a  crucifix  there,  still  held  in  great  veneration  by 
the  natives. 

146.  It  was  not  until  forty-three  years  later  than 


THE    PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS.  155 

the  visit  of  Magellan  that  Philip  II.,  whose  name  had 
been  given  to  the  islands,  organized  an  expedition  to 
take  possession  of  them  for  Spain  and  the  church.  It 
was  on  the  Mexican  coast  of  North  Aunerica  that  he 
had  four  ships  and  a  frigate  fitted  out  for  this  work. 
The  expedition,  including  six  Augustinian  mission- 
aries and  four  hundred  soldiers  under  command  of  the 
intrepid  but  prudent  Legaspi  sailed  from  The  Port  of 
the  Nativity,  Mexico,  in  November,  1564,  and  reached 
Cebu  in  April,  1565.  The  natives  were  shy  and  fearful- 
at  first,  but  finally  opened  their  port  for  the  conquest 
of  the  archipelago.  The  missionaries,  with  Urdinaeta 
as  their  leader  immediately  began  active  work  among 
the  people. 

147.  When  terms  of  peace  had  been  made  with 
Tupas,  King  of  Cebu,  and  the  natives  had  sworn  alle- 
giance to  the  King  of  Spain,  promising  to  pay  him 
tribute  with  a  part  of  their  harvests,  General  Legaspi 
sent  Urdinaeta  to  report  the  success  of  the  enterprise 
to  the  court  of  Mexico  and  to  the  King.  Urdinaeta 
was  also  commissioned  to  make  a  chart  of  the  route 
from  the  Philippines  to  Mexico.  The  voyage  was  a 
rough  one.  Two  pilots,  a  mate  and  sixteen  sailors  died 
on  the  way.  The  survivors  were  received  with  great 
joy  in  Mexico.  Some  time  later  Urdinaeta  went  on  to 
Spain,  carrying  to  the  King  the  reports  of  General 
Legaspi  and  submitting  his  own  chart  of  the  route,  in 
which  he  had  indicated  the  course  of  the  disastrous 
wind,  which  the  sailors  had  named  hurracan. 

At  the  Spanish  Court  Urdinaeta  was  eulogized  as 
the  true  discoverer  of  a  path  through  the  unknown  sea. 


156  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF     MISSIONS. 

On  his  return  to  Mexico  on  account  of  his  age 
he  was  relieved  of  active  service.  He  died  there  in 
June,  1568,  at  the  age  of  seventy. 

148.  Acapulco,  on  the  western  coast  of  Mexico,  was 
for  many  years  the  only  port  of  departure  for  mission- 
aries and  missionary  supplies  to  the  Philippines.  There 
was  one  expedition  each  year,  employing  generally  but 
one  ship,  occasionally  two.  The  hardships  endured  in 
the  early  voyages  were  unspeakable,  costing  many 
lives. 

On  the  death  of  Urdinaeta  Herrera  succeeded  him 
in  office.  He  baptized  a  niece  of  the  native  King, 
Tupas,  who  was  in  the  retinue  of  General  Legaspi. 
Later  King  Tupas  himself,  his  son  and  many  of  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  the  islands,  asked  and  received 
baptism.  In  June,  1569,  General  Legaspi  sent  Herrera 
to  consult  with  the  court  in  regard  to  points  of  discus- 
sion with  the  Portuguese,  to  inform  the  King  of  the 
progress  of  the  work  and  to  enlist  more  missionaries, 
either  of  the  Augustinian  or  of  other  orders,  to  assist 
in  carrying  on  the  missions.  Meantime  Martin  de 
Herrada  was  left  as  the  only  worker  except  for  the 
companionship  and  help  of  two  worthy  laymen  who 
had  come  to  his  aid  from  Salcedo  (see  §  126). 

As  Herrera  was  leaving  the  island  he  met  Juan  Alba 
and  Alonzo  Jimenez,  who  were  arriving.  Taking  them 
with  him  he  returned  to  Cebu  to  discuss  plans  for 
work  in  his  absence.  It  was  decided  that  Herrada 
should  remain  in  Cebu,  Jimenez  should  go  to  Mastate 
and  later  to  Camarines,  and  Alba  to  Panay.  General 
Legaspi  had  decided  to  place  his  headquarters  at  Panay 


THE    PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS.  1 57 

because  he  could  more  easily  collect  provisions  there 
than  in  Cebu.  His  soldiers  were  marauding  through 
the  islands  in  which  the  three  missionaries  were  trying 
to  instil  the  principles  of  Christian  character. 

149.  In  1570  Herrera  returned,  accompanied  by  six 
Augustinian  helpers  with  orders  from  the  king  to  es- 
tablish communities  in  the  islands.  King  Philip  be- 
stowed on  General  Legaspi  the  title  of  Governor.  Her- 
rera was  also  made  the  bearer  of  titles  of  property  from 
King  Philip  II.  for  the  captains  and  soldiers  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  conquest  of  the  islands. 
The  Spanish  chronicler  of  this  fact  adds  significantly 
that  the  bringing  of  these  titles  "assured  to  the  re- 
ligious workers  the  reward  of  their  arduous  labors." 
In  the  following  year  Governor  Legaspi  moved  the 
seat  of  government  for  the  colony  from  Panay  to  Ma- 
nila, the  metropolis,  even  then,  of  the  archipelago. 

150.  The  members  of  the  little  band  of  missionaries 
were  scattered  through  the  islands  separated  from  each 
other  by  hundreds  of  miles. 

In  spite  of  the  distances  and  of  the  perils  of  traveling 
in  unknown  seas,  Herrera,  as  Provincial,  made  many 
visits  to  different  parts  of  the  archipelago  in  perform- 
ing the  duties  of  his  office.  In  returning  to  Manila 
from  one  of  these  expeditions  his  boat  struck  a  rock. 
Herrera's  greatest  misfortune  in  connection  with  the 
wreck  was  the  loss  of  his  books,  which,  to  quote  the 
language  of  a  chronicler  of  the  time,  "were  many  and 
well  chosen."  But  the  expedition  which  had  cost  him 
the  loss  of  his  books  had  given  him  a  new  knowledge 
of  the  people  and  the  territory  under  his  jurisdiction. 


158  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

In  the  following  year,  when  the  Provincial  of  Mexico 
sent  to  him  six  new  workers,  Herrera  called  all  the 
missionaries  together  to  revise  their  earlier  plans. 
With  a  desire  to  systematize  the  work  and  give  it 
greater  efficiency,  he  assigned  to  each  his  territory  and 
his  work.  Convents  or  churches  were  to  be  built  in 
the  most  important  places.  In  the  plan  of  the  Pro- 
vincial, the  erection  of  a  convent  was  to  signify  the 
establishment  of  a  ministry  and  the  formal  creation  of 
a  civilized  village. 

151.  In  1574  "The  New  Christendom"  was  attacked 
by  an  army  under  the  command  of  the  Chinese  corsair, 
Limahon.  The  natives  of  Mindoro,  Tondo  and  Manila 
rebelled  and  joined  the  corsair.  Two  missionaries  of 
Mindoro  were  seized  by  the  revolting  natives  and  tied 
in  the  woods,  where  they  were  kept  for  four  days 
awaiting  the  result  of  Limahon's  attack.  The  maraud- 
ers burned  the  church  and  convent  of  Manila  with  all 
their  furnishings,  including  valuable  gifts  from  King 
Philip  II. 

The  Spaniards  resisted,  then  attacked  their  well- 
equipped  enemies  and  finally  succeeded  in  blockading 
Limahon's  entire  fleet  within  their  harbor.  It  was 
found  necessary  to  pacify  and  win  back  the  revolting 
natives  to  allegiance  to  Spanish  rule.  This  task  was 
accomplished  by  two  missionaries,  Marin  and  Orta. 
The  Provincial  accompanied  the  Governor  in  the  col- 
umn of  attack  against  the  corsair.  So  Church  and 
State  combined  to  resist  attacks  from  without. 

152.  At  the  time  of  Limahon's  attack  on  Manila  he 
had  been  closely  followed  by  Captain  Ammon,  whc 


THE    PHILIPPINE   ISLANDS.  159 

was  under  orders  from  the  Chinese  government  to  find 
him  and  reduce  him  to  submission.  Finding  him 
blockaded  in  the  harbor  of  Manila  with  his  forces  ap- 
parently in  the  power  of  the  Spaniards,  Captain  Am- 
nion asked  for  a  conference  with  the  Governor  and 
was  most  cordially  received,  not  only  by  the  Governor 
and  his  retinue,  but  by  the  Provincial  and  his  co- 
workers. 

153.  Neither  the  zeal  of  the  missionaries  nor  the 
ambition  of  the  Governor  had  been  satisfied  with  the 
conquest  of  the  Philippines.  The  missionaries  had  a 
strong  desire  to  evangelize  China.  Legaspi  had  tried 
again  and  again  to  send  embassies  of  peace  to  the  Em- 
peror. Conferences  had  been  held  with  the  captains 
of  the  commercial  barges,  which  came  frequently  from 
China.  They  had  discouraged  the  project  of  sending 
missionaries  and  declared  that  entrance  to  China  had 
been  forbidden  to  all  foreigners.  This  refusal  to  admit 
people  of  other  lands  was  said  to  be  based  on  a  super- 
stitious belief  common  among  the  people  that  if  for- 
eigners should  be  allowed  to  enter  they  would  even- 
tually dominate  China. 

In  1572  Albuquerque,  one  of  the  most  zealous  and 
successful  of  the  Augustinian  missionaries,  learning 
that  China  would  receive  as  slaves  men  of  any  nation- 
ality, offered  himself  to  a  Chinese  captain  to  be  sold 
in  order  that  he  might  carry  the  gospel  of  freedom  into 
that  land.  Governor  Legaspi  forbade  him  to  go  in  the 
capacity  of  a  slave,  but  promised  to  try  to  secure  for 
him  a  more  propitious  way  of  accomplishing  his  desire. 

Now  the  coming  of  Captain  Ammon  with  a  request 


l6o  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

for  help  in  securing  the  subjection  of  Limahon  to 
Chinese  authority  seemed  to  open  the  way  for  the  intro- 
duction of  missions  from  the  Philippines  to  China. 

154.  The  Governor  gave  the  Chinese  slaves  that 
he  had  taken  from  Limahon  to  Captain  Ammon  to  be 
returned  to  China,  and  promised  to  deliver  Limahon 
"alive  or  dead"  with  all  his  forces  into  the  hands  of  the 
Chinese. 

Captain  Ammon  returning  to  China  to  report  to  the 
government  and  to  bring  an  escort  for  Limahon  and 
his  fleet,  took  with  him,  at  the  request  of  the  Governor, 
two  missionaries,  as  special  ambassadors  from  Manila. 
The  only  result  of  the  embassy  was  a  courteous  ex- 
change of  letters,  compliments  and  presents,  after 
which  the  viceroys  very  politely  invited  the  ambassa- 
dors to  return  to  their  own  port.  They  sent  them  back 
with  new  captains  and  boats,  and  exhorted  them  to 
secure  for  China  the  friendship  of  their  Spanish  King 
and  to  deliver  Limahon,  dead  or  alive,  to  the  Chinese 
authorities.  Permission  was  granted  them  to  return 
to  China  when  this  should  be  accomplished. 

155.  Arriving  at  Manila  they  found  that  Limahon 
had  succeeded  in  raising  the  blockade  and  escaping. 
Don  Francisco  Sande  had  been  installed  as  Governor. 
He  accepted  the  presents  which  had  been  intended  for 
his  predecessor,  and  after  expressing  his  appreciation 
of  them,  he  asked  the  captains  to  take  with  them,  on 
their  return  to  China,  two  missionaries,  Albuquerque 
and  Herrada.  The  captains  consented  to  this,  but  quite 
unwillingly.  They  had  hoped  to  secure  Limahon  and 
to  be  handsomely  rewarded  by  China  for  his  capture, 


THE    PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS.  l6l 

but  he  had  escaped  before  their  arrival.  They  had 
expected  to  receive  presents  and  titles  from  the  Philip- 
pine Governor,  but,  contrary  to  the  counsel  of  his  ad- 
visers, he  bestowed  nothing  upon  them. 

156.  Offended  by  what  they  considered  lack  of  con- 
sideration on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards,  they  avenged 
themselves  on  the  missionaries  and  their  three  Indian 
servants.  Disembarking  at  Zimbales  they  beheaded 
the  servants,  disrobed  the  missionaries,  tied  them  to 
strong  trees  and  tore  open  their  flesh  with  flogging, 
then  left  them  there  unconscious  and  half  dead.  After 
two  days  they  were  found  by  Sergeant  Moronis,  who 
nursed  them  until  they  were  so  far  recovered  as  to  be 
able  to  be  taken  back  to  Manila.  Later,  hoping  to  undo 
the  harm  which  he  had  done,  Governor  Sande  sent 
Marin  to  the  Court  of  Spain  to  represent  to  the  King 
the  advantages  of  friendly  relations  with  China  and  to 
describe  the  mistake  which  he  had  made  and  its  un- 
fortunate effect  on  the  relations  existing  between  China 
and  the  Philippines. 

Philip  II.  appointed  an  imposing  embassy  to  go  to 
Peking  carrying  messages  of  affection  and  valuable 
presents.  After  many  delays  the  embassy  was  finally 
abandoned. 

157.  On  the  departure  of  Limahon  and  his  forces 
the  missionaries  began  anew  their  task  of  building 
churches  and  founding  communities. 

Herrera  went  again  to  Spain  to  enlist  more  mission- 
aries. He  secured  forty  Augustinians  and  several 
Franciscans,  and  started  with  them  for  the  Philippines 
by  way  of  Mexico.    The  hardships  of  the  voyage  were 


l62  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF     MISSIONS. 

so  great  that  they  were  exhausted  and  ill.  Only  six  of 
those  who  had  left  Spain  found  themselves  able  to  pro- 
ceed farther  than  Mexico.  These  six,  with  three  others 
who  joined  the  company  in  Mexico,  had  nearly  reached 
Manila  when  they  were  wrecked  by  a  typhoon.  With 
great  difficulty  they  reached  a  neighboring  island, 
where  they  all,  including  Herrera,  died  at  the  hands  of 
the  savage  natives,  in  1576.  In  the  following  year 
seven  Augustinians  and  seventeen  Franciscans  came  to 
Manila  to  engage  in  missionary  work. 

158.  Whatever  may  be  true  of  their  successors,  the 
inheritors  of  wealth,  position  and  power,  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  friars  who  went  to  the  Philip- 
pines in  the  early  days  of  the  Spanish  occupation  were 
unselfish  in  their  zeal  to  carry  the  gospel  where  it  had 
not  been  known.  The  period  of  which  we  are  treating 
ended  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago.  Many  writ- 
ers have  commended  the  devotion  and  faithfulness  of 
those  early  missionary  friars  who,  "with  no  other  arms 
than  their  virtues,"  made  the  Spanish  name  loved,  and 
"gave  to  the  King  as  by  miracle  2,000,000  more  of 
Christian  subjects."  The  Spanish  flag  floated  beside 
the  cross,  upheld  by  a  mere  handful  of  soldiers  and 
with  the  expenditure  of  "scarcely  a  drop  of  blood." 

Dampier,  the  English  navigator,  reporting  his  visit 
to  the  Philippines  in  1796,  says: 

"In  every  village  is  a  stone  church,  as  well  as  a  parson- 
age house  for  the  rector,  who  is  constantly  one  of 
the  monks.  These  last,  who  all  of  them  are  Europeans, 
are  very  much  respected  by  the  Indians,  while  the  secular 
clergy,  who  most  commonly  are  Creoles,  are  held  in  contempt ; 
hence  the  Government  shows  great  deference  to  the  rectors ; 


THE    PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS.  163 

for,  generally  speaking,  the  Indian  always  consults  them  on 
entering  upon  any  enterprise  and  even  as  to  paying  taxes." 

159.  Mendoza's  account,  written  about  1584,  and 
translated  soon  after  into  the  English  of  that  day,  gives 
a  picturesque  view  of  the  conditions  existing  in  the 
islands  twenty  years  after  the  beginning  of  serious 
missionary  work : 

"According  vnto  the  common  opinion,  at  this  day  there  is 
conuerted  and  baptized  more  then  foure  hundred  thousand 
soules,  which  is  a  great  number ;  yet  in  respect  of  the  quan- 
tise that  are  not  as  yet  conuerted,  there  but  a  few.  It  is  left 
undone  (as  aforesaid)  for  want  of  ministers,  for  that,  although 
his  maiesty  doth  ordinarily  send  thither  without  any  respect 
of  the  great  charge  in  doing  the  same,  yet  by  reason  that  there 
are  so  many  ilands,  and  euerie  day  they  doo  discouer  more 
and  more,  and  being  so  far  off,  they  cannot  come  vnto  them 
all,  as  necessitie  requireth.  Such  as  are  baptized  doo  receiue 
the  fayth  with  great  firmenesse,  and  are  good  Christians,  and 
would  be  better,  if  that  they  were  holpen  with  good  ensamples ; 
as  those  which  haue  beene  there  so  long  time  are  bounde  to 
doe ;  that  the  lacke  thereof  doth  cause  some  of  the  inhabitants 
so  much  to  abhorre  them,  that  they  would  not  see  them  once 
paynted  vpon  a  wall.  .  .  .  That  some  of  them 
forthwith  receiued  the  baptisme,  and  that  others  did  delay 
it,  saying  that  because  there  were  Spaniard  souldiers  in  glory, 
they  would  not  go  thither,  because  they  would  not  be  in  their 
company." 

Mohammedanism  had  three  hundred  years  the  start 
of  Christianity  in  the  southern  group  of  the  Philip- 
pines. Terrible  persecutions  were  suffered  by  the 
Christian  converts  at  the  hands  of  both  pagans  and 
Mohammedans.  It  is  said  that  there  were  more  than 
six  thousand  martyrs  before  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  By  the  end  of  the  next  century  Christianity 
was  firmly  established. 


164  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF     MISSIONS. 

160.  A  Spanish  writer  of  the  time  says :  "Without 
the  help  of  the  friars  it  is  of  little  use  for  us  to  try  to 
conquer  the  Indians  by  force  of  arms.  Hidden  in  the 
woods  they  would  refuse  to  pay  tribute  or  to  do  service 
for  the  Spaniards." 

The  astute  King,  realizing  the  material  advantages 
secured  for  his  realm  by  the  missionaries,  was  glad  for 
political  reasons  to  promote  their  enterprises.  The 
missions  in  the  Philippines  were  largely  supported  by 
the  monopoly  which  the  King  of  Spain  had  of  the  trade 
of  the  islands.  The  annual  galleon  between  Manila 
and  Acapulco,  Mexico,  carried  rich  cargoes  of  spices 
and  silks  from  China,  not  fewer  than  fifty  thousand 
pairs  of  silk  stockings  a  year,  and  from  India  various 
fabrics,  especially  calicoes  (named  from  Calcutta)  and 
chintz.  The  King  assigned  a  certain  number  of 
bales  to  each  of  the  missionary  orders.  They  either 
filled  their  allotted  bulk  of  cargo  themselves  or  sold 
the  privilege  to  others.  The  trade  was  worth  about 
three  millions  of  dollars  a  year.  It  was  this  enormous 
trade  between  Peru  and  Mexico  on  one  side  and  the 
Orient  on  the  other,  through  the  Philippines,  which 
introduced  the  Mexican  dollar  as  a  standard  of  value 
in  China,  so  that  our  missionaries  there  to  this  day 
say  of  their  expenses,  so  much,  "Mexican."  The  Ital- 
ian traveler,  Careri,  went  in  the  galleon  from  Manila 
to  Acapulco  in  1697  and  describes  at  length  the  miseries 
of  the  voyage,  and  tells  also  of  the  prodigious  profits 
made  by  those  in  charge. 

161.     On  the  last  day  of  June,   1743,  the  galleon 
Nostra  Signora  de  Cabadonga,  which  had  sailed  from 


THE   PHILIPPINE   ISLANDS.  I65 

Manila  eleven  months  before,  heavily  laden  with  a  rich 
cargo,  landed  it  safely  on  the  shores  of  America.  She 
made  the  return  voyage  with  a  light  cargo  of  cochineal 
and  other  products,  but  with  a  fresh  relay  of  mission- 
aries and  with  1,313,843  Mexican  dollars  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  missions,  besides  35,682  ounces  of  virgin 
silver.  After  four  months  of  continuous  sailing  almost 
straight  westward,  as  the  map  of  her  track  from  her 
own  log  book  shows,  she  was  almost  in  sight  of  the 
Cape  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  her  gateway  into  the  Philip- 
pines, when  Commodore  Anson,  of  England,  who  had 
been  lying  in  wait  for  her  a  whole  month  at  that  point 
with  his  ship,  The  Centurion,  opened  fire  upon  her. 
Though  he  has  not  half  as  many  men  as  are  standing 
to  the  thirty-six  guns  of  our  Lady  of  Cabadonga, 
most  of  those  that  he  has  being  mere  boys,  his  Anglo- 
Saxon  skill  in  maneuvering  and  in  handling  the  guns, 
after  a  sharp  fight  causes  the  Spaniards  to  strike  their 
colors  with  loss  to  them  of  67  killed  and  84  wounded, 
while  the  British  loss  is  but  2  killed  and  17  wounded. 
When  the  prisoners  were  brought  aboard  they  were 
disgusted  as  well  as  astonished  to  see  that  they  had 
been  beaten  by  a  mere  handful  of  British  lads. 

Hundreds  of  years  the  galleons  went  and  came,  gen- 
erally in  safety,  carrying  means  and  men  for  missions 
from  America  to  the  Philippines. 

162.  Before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
Augustinians  had  founded  seventy  distinct  missions  in 
the  Philippines.  They  were  preaching  in  eight  differ- 
ent dialects.  Their  missions  were  scattered  through 
twenty  provinces.    About  three-quarters  of  a  million  of 


l66  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF     MISSIONS. 

inhabitants  were  gathered  under  their  immediate  care 
in  Christian  villages.  In  the  years  1565- 1800  twelve 
hundred  and  sixty  Augustinian  monks  were  engaged 
in  these  missions,  and  nearly  two  hundred  and  forty 
served  as  teachers  and  college  professors. 

The  Augustinians  have  been  assumed  to  be  the  first 
missionaries  to  the  Philippines.  They  were  the  first, 
doubtless,  to  begin  a  work  there  which  has  continued 
uninterruptedly  to  the  present  day.  But  the  first  teach- 
ers of  Christianity  in  the  islands  were  not  members  of 
any  of  the  religious  orders,  but  "private  clergy,"  chap- 
lains of  ships,  whose  teachings  remained  and  prepared 
the  soil  for  later  workers,  though  their  names  perished. 

Franciscan  missionaries  reached  the  islands  twelve 
years  after  the  Augustinians.  In  1581  the  first  bishop 
arrived.  He  was  a  Dominican  and  brought  with  him 
from  Mexico  others  of  his  own  order.  Not  long  after 
the  Jesuits  and  !the  Recollets  followed.  All  these 
missionary  orders  were  very  successful,  according  to 
their  standards,  in  winning  the  natives  to  Christianity. 

It  was  not  till  the  year  1700  that  natives  were  ad- 
mitted to  full  membership  in  the  brotherhoods.  On 
account  of  the  native  uprisings  this  privilege  was  taken 
away  in  1872. 

163.  Even  before  the  way  was  open  for  modern 
missionaries  to  go  from  the  Philippine  Islands  to  China 
and  Japan  some  of  the  people  of  those  lands  received 
the  gospel  through  what  might  be  called  the  home 
mission  work  of  the  Philippine  missionaries. 

Chinese  swarmed  in  Manila  before  1600,  and  the 
government  enacted  stringent  laws  for  their  exclusion, 


THE    PHILIPPINE   ISLANDS.  10/ 

allowing  only  certain  needed  classes  of  tradesmen  and 
workmen  to  remain  on  certificate. 

They  were  compelled  to  live  in  specified  districts  and 
never  to  be  found  within  the  walls  after  the  gates  wer?. 
closed,  on  pain  of  death.  The  Dominicans  carried  on  a 
vigorous  mission  among  them,  having  two  missionary 
settlements  and  a  hospital  for  their  especial  benefit. 
There  was  a  quarter  occupied  by  the  christianized 
Chinese  to  the  number  of  500.  But  their  conversion 
proved  not  to  be  very  genuine  or  stable,  being  largely 
feigned  with  the  hope  of  business  and  social  advantage 
to  be  gained. 

Among  the  Japanese,  on  the  other  hand,  who  were 
far  less  numerous  and  of  a  much  higher  grade,  the 
Franciscans  carried  on  a  mission  which  resulted  in 
many  genuine  conversions. 

164.  Magellan  discovered  the  Ladrone  Islands  and 
landed  at  Guam  in  the  same  year  in  which  he  visited 
the  Philippines,  1521.  In  1668  a  Jesuit  mission  from 
Mexico  was  established  under  the  direction  of  Diego. 
By  1695  the  natives  were  nominally  christianized.  The 
mission  met  with  many  reverses,  and  at  times  with  de- 
termined hostility  on  the  part  of  the  people.  The  Jes- 
uit Faore,  with  twenty-two  others  of  the  same  order, 
visited  the  Ladrones  in  1709.  He  speaks  of  the  islands 
as  having  been  "consecrated  by  the  blood  of  so  many 
of  our  martyrs."  He  says :  "We  continued  no  longer 
than  was  necessary  for  taking  in  some  refreshments, 
but  six  of  our  Jesuits  staid  behind,  their  assistance  be- 
ing very  much  wanted  for  the  ease  of  the  first  mis- 


1 68*  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

sionaries,  most  of  whom  were  bowed  with  age  and 
incapable  of  discharging  their  ministerial  duties." 

According  to  Anson,  who  visited  Guam  in  1741,  there 
were  then  "near  four  thousand  native  inhabitants." 
But  he  says  that  there  were  said  to  have  been  above 
fifty  thousand  people  only  sixty  years  before  his  visit. 

In  1 77 1  Crozet  found  only  about  1,000  native  in- 
habitants in  the  Ladrones.  But  he  speaks  in  the  high- 
est terms  of  the  treatment  which  they  were  at  that  time 
receiving  from  the  Spanish  governor,  M.  Tobias,  and 
the  missionaries.  There  were  five  of  the  latter  belong- 
ing to  the  order  of  Augustine,  though  the  Company  of 
Jesus  had  formerly  had  charge  of  the  work. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


JAPAN  AND  FORMOSA. 

165.  The  pioneer  missionaries.  166.  .Xavier  in  Kioto 
and  Oita.  167.  Xavier  and  Carey— a  contrast.  168. 
Work  in  Bungo  and  Hirado.  169.  Nagasaki  becomes 
the  headquarters  of  Christianity.  170.  The  Goto  Isl- 
ands. 171.  Summary  of  exclusively  Jesuit  work.  172. 
Franciscans  from  the  Philippines.  173-  Dominicans 
and  others  from  the  Philippines.  174-  Native  helpers. 
175.  Numerical     results.  176.  Attempted      obliteration 

not  quite  successful.  177.  Dutch  missions  in  Formosa. 
178.  Report  of  George  Candidus.  179.  Great  work  of 
Robert     Junius.         180.  School     work.  181.  Methods. 

182.  A  printing  press  and  Dutch  humor.  183.  Compul- 
sion and  religious  liberty.        184.  The  last  stand. 

165.  The  first  missionary  to  Japan  was  that  great 
forerunner  of  all  modern  missionaries  in  Asia,  Francis 
Xavier.    In  India  he  wrote : 

''I  have  been  informed  by  many  of  an  island,  Japan,  sit- 
uated near  China,  inhabited  by  heathens  alone,  not  by  Ma- 
hometans, nor  by  Jews;  and  that  it  contains  men  endowed 
with  good  morals,  most  inquisitive  men,  intelligent,  eager  for 
novelties  respecting  God,  both  natural  and  divine  novelties 
concerning  God.  I  have  resolved  not  without  great  pleasure 
of  mind,  to  see  that  island  also." 

At  Malacca  Xavier  had  met  a  Japanese  by  the  name 
of  Hanjiro  (Anger),  who  had  committed  a  murder  and 
been  driven  into  exile.  Hanjiro  had  an  active  conscience 

169 


170  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

and  the  missionary  found  him  hungering  for  peace  of 
mind.  As  a  result  the  Japanese  and  his  servant  were 
converted  and  were  baptized  and  taught  by  Xavier. 

Hanjiro  guided  the  apostle  to  Japan,  was  his  inter- 
preter there  and  his  active  coadjutor.  The  other  mem- 
bers of  this  first  mission  were  Jean  Ferdinand  and 
Cosme  de  Torres.  They  landed  at  Kagoshima, 
Hanjiro's  home,  in  southwestern  Japan,  August  15, 
1549.  Some  of  the  relations  of  Hanjiro  soon  received 
Christian  baptism.  The  ruler  of  the  district  and  his 
wife  are  said  to  have  been  greatly  impressed  with  a 
picture  of  Mary  and  the  infant  Jesus  depicted  on  a 
tablet  which  was  one  of  Hanjiro's  treasures.  On  the 
departure  of  a  Portuguese  trading  vessel,  however,  the 
ruler's  interest  departed  and  he  prohibited  further 
preaching.  The  ship  sailed  to  the  port  frequented  by 
foreigners  in  the  island  of  Hirado  (Firando),  130  miles 
northwest  of  Kagoshima.  Xavier  went  thither,  over- 
land most  of  the  way.  He  planted  a  mission  there, 
leaving  Cosme  de  Torres  in  charge. 

166.  The  restless  apostle  and  his  three  remaining 
comrades  set  out  for  Kioto,  the  western  capital  of 
Japan  on  the  main  island,  nearly  400  miles  eastward 
from  Hirado.  Xavier  carried  a  box  containing  vest- 
ments and  vessels  for  celebrating  mass.  With  his 
burden  and  barefooted  in  mid-winter  he  tramped  the 
long  distance  over  hill  and  dale,  some  of  the  way  in 
the  snow.  He  preached  on  the  streets,  but  political 
commotions,  as  well  as  his  own  unpropitious  estate, 
prevented  his  obtaining  the  interview  which  he  desired 
with  either  the  Mikado  or  the  Shogun.    After  all  his 


FRANCIS  XAVIER. 


JAPAN    AND    FORMOSA.  171 

pains  in  reaching  the  capital,  he  stayed  but  two  weeks. 
Either  on  this  trip  or  on  a  separate  journey  from 
Hirado,  Yamaguchi  was  visited.  But  the  forlorn  mis- 
sion band  found  no  welcome  there. 

In  Oita  (Fucheo),  on  the  Bungo  Channel,  130  miles 
northwest  of  Kagoshima,  the  missionaries  found  their 
most  receptive  field.  The  Portuguese  traders  co-oper- 
ated with  Xavier  and  he  obtained  a  cordial  welcome  on 
the  part  of  the  ruler  of  the  province  of  Bungo,  who  ap- 
pointed a  public  discussion  of  religion  and  declared  the 
result  of  it  to  be  in  favor  of  the  new  faith.  Xavier 
always  believed  in  the  use  of  political  power  for  the 
propagation  of  Christianity.  He  not  only  practiced 
extreme  poverty,  but  when  it  appeared  to  him  that 
pomp  and  ceremony  would  do  more  good  he  used  that. 
He  received  $15,000  from  Europe  during  his  brief 
mission  in  Japan. 

167.  After  only  two  and  a  half  years  in  the  Sunrise 
Kingdom  this  flying  scout  of  missions  set  sail  Novem- 
ber 20,  1 55 1,  hoping  to  enter  next  the  great  land  of 
China.  Xavier  was  a  man  of  extremely  sensitive  emo- 
tional nature.  Some  of  his  letters  show  him  in  the 
depths  of  discouragement,  almost  nopeless  as  to  the 
conversion  of  the  Asiatics ;  and  others  show  him  on  the 
mountain  crest  of  millennial  vision.  With  him,  as  with 
some  other  great  pioneers  of  missions,  the  love  of  travel 
had  much  to  do  with  shaping  his  career.  What  we 
might  call  the  geographical  sense  was  strong  in  Will- 
iam Carey  and  had  much  to  do  with  his  appreciation 
of  the  needs  of  the  world ;  but  it  did  not  master  him  as 
it  mastered  Xavier.    Carey  settled  to  the  steady,  pro- 


172  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

longed  work  in  one  place,  which  is  far  less  exhilarating 
and  makes  larger  drafts  on  spiritual  resources.  Carey 
conscientiously  accepted  that  kind  of  work  as  his  mis- 
sion. When  he  had  come  to  be  recognized  as  one  of 
the  great  scholars  of  the  world,  he  expressed  the  wish 
that  if  people  must  say  anything  about  him  they  should 
merely  say  that  he  could  "plod."  The  restless  Xavier 
never  learned  to  use  any  Asiatic  language.  Carey 
learned  enough  of  thirty-six  languages  and  dialects  to 
translate  completely  or  partially  the  Scriptures  into 
them.  Thus  he  put  the  sacred  literature  which  had 
originated  in  Western  Asia  into  the  native  tongues  of 
more  than  half  the  population  of  the  whole  continent. 
But  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  uses  explorers  as  well  as 
settlers.  Japan  seems  to  have  given  Xavier  more  satis- 
faction than  India.  This  is  not  surprising  considering 
the  mental  mobility  of  the  Japanese.  Xavier  said  of 
them :    "This  nation  is  the  delight  of  my  soul." 

168.  Cosme  de  Torres,  who  had  been  appointed  by 
the  Jesuit  college  in  Goa,  India,  to  accompany  Xavier, 
was  in  charge  of  the  mission  work  after  Xavier  left 
Japan.  The  mission  prospered  in  the  province  of 
Bungo.  Two  of  the  bonzes  (Buddhist  priests)  had 
been  inquirers  for  some  time.  One  day  when  Torres 
had  been  giving  to  an  assembly  some  account  of  Paul's 
conversion  one  of  the  bonzes  exclaimed  to  the  whole 
gathering:  "Behold,  O  Japanese!  I,  also,  am  a  Chris- 
tian! and  as  I  have  hitherto  imitated  a  Paul  by  my 
opposition  to  Jesus,  so  will  I  follow  him  henceforth  by 
preaching  to  the  heathens.  And  you,  my  friend,"  he 
added,  turning  to  his  companion,  "come  with  me ;  and 


JAPAN    AND   FORMOSA.  173 

since  together  we  have  disseminated  error,  now  to- 
gether let  us  teach  the  truth."  These  men  were  bap- 
tized under  the  names  Paul  and  Barnabas. 

In  1557  Paul  and  a  Jesuit,  Balthazar,  undertook  a 
fresh  work  at  Hirado.  Many  were  converted,  includ- 
ing a  governor  of  two  small  islands  in  the  vicinity. 
Before  long,  however,  persecution  arose  at  Hirado,  and 
the  first  recorded  martyrdom  for  the  faith  in  Japan 
was  there.  A  master  had  forbidden  his  slave  to  attend 
the  Christian  assembly  on  pain  of  death.  She  replied 
that  she  would  do  all  her  duty  to  him,  but  also  her  duty 
to  God.  When  she  returned  the  next  time  from  re^ 
ligious  service  he  met  her  with  a  drawn  sword.  She 
knelt  quietly  before  him  and  he  cut  off  her  head  at  one 
blow. 

169.  Several  of  the  daimios,  the  feudal  barons  or 
territorial  nobles  of  Japan,  commonly  called  kings  in 
the  Jesuit  accounts,  adopted  Christianity.  Sumitando, 
the  Daimio  of  Omura,  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  of 
these.  He  had  been  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity, it  is  said,  by  reading  a  book  written  in  Japanese 
by  one  of  the  missionaries,  Villela,  to  answer  objections 
of  the  bonzes.  The  fact  must  be  recognized  that  at  the 
same  time  Sumitando  saw  that  it  would  be  a  great  ad- 
vantage to  him  to  have  the  Portuguese  trade  center  in 
his  barony.  He  laid  out  on  a  large  scale  the  city  of 
Nagasaki  at  that  prosperous  seaport,  a  few  miles  south 
of  his  seat,  Omura,  and  gave  the  Jesuits  and  merchants 
large  jurisdiction  there.  In  1562  a  Christian  church 
was  built.  The  town  grew  rapidly  and  became  one  of 
the  great  ports  of  Japan,  and  the  headquarters  of  Chris- 


174  TW0  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

tianity.  In  1567  "there  was  hardly  a  person  who  was 
not  a  Christian."  Sumitando  came  with  forty  of  his 
chief  retainers  and  they  were  baptized  by  Torres.  The 
daimio  adopted  the  methods  which  were  in  vogue  in 
European  Christendom  at  the  time  and  sought  to  com- 
pel uniformity  of  creed.  He  destroyed  idolatry  with  a 
strong  hand.  His  course  resulted  in  an  insurrection  of 
the  heathen  party,  but  he  was  able  to  put  it  down. 

170.  The  daimio  of  the  Goto  Islands,  the  western 
group  of  Japan,  asked  for  missionaries.  Torres  sent 
Almeida  and  Lewis  in  1566.  Later  John  Baptist  de 
Monti  baptized  the  baron's  son,  who  succeeded  to  the 
estate.  Alexander  Valignan  was  a  sturdy  missionary 
in  Goto  for  some  years.  Arima,  another  baron,  was 
early  brought  under  the  influence  of  Christianity. 

171.  Cosme  de  Torres  guided  the  missions  in  Japan 
until  his  death  in  1570,  more  than  twenty  years  after 
his  landing  on  the  shores  of  Japan  with  Xavier.  The 
record  runs  that  he  had  baptized  30,000  pagans  with 
his  own  hands.  Fifty  churches  had  been  founded.  A 
number  of  mission  schools  had  been  established.  He 
was  succeeded  in  the  charge  of  the  work  by  Cabral. 
The  Company  of  Jesus  prosecuted  their  work  in  Japan 
with  continued  vigor..  For  forty-four  years  they  oc- 
cupied the  field  alone.  At  the  end  of  that  time  (1593), 
they  had  130  missionaries  on  the  ground. 

172.  Then  other  orders  joined  in  the  work.  For 
nearly  fifty  years  (1593-1640)  active  and  heroic  mis- 
sionary enterprises  in  Japan  were  conducted  from  the 
Philippine  Islands.  Inspiteof  the  protests  of  the  Jesuits, 
who  claimed  Japan  as  their  peculiar  territory,  Francis- 


JAPAN    AND   FORMOSA.  1 75 

cans  were  sent  from  Manila.  They  went  first  as  gov- 
ernment ambassadors  and  negotiated  treaties  for  trade 
between  the  Philippine  and  Japanese  islands.  But  they 
had  missions  most  at  heart.  Pedro  Bautista  was  the 
leader.  He  had  three  other  barefooted  friars  and  four 
laymen  with  him.  Permission  was  granted  them  to 
build  a  church  at  Meaco,  near  Osaka,  which  was 
opened  in  1594.  But,  instigated  by  Portuguese  mer- 
chants and  perhaps  by  the  Jesuits,  the  governor  of  the 
provincial  capital,  Nagasaki,  prohibited  the  Franciscan 
propaganda.  These  missionaries  were  less  politic  than 
those  of  the  Company  of  Jesus.  The  Emperor  him- 
self became  alarmed  at  the  spread  of  the  new  religion 
in  his  realm  and  issued  an  edict  against  it.  Bautista 
went  to  Manila,  however,  and  secured  a  fresh  author- 
ization from  the  Governor  and  a  new  relay  of  mission- 
aries. In  1 603  Diego  Guevara  founded  the  convent  of 
Bungo  and  Estasio  Ortiz  that  of  Usuki.  Two  years 
later  Ferdinand  de  San  Jose  created  a  church  in  Sayki, 
the  residence  of  the  King  of  Bungo.  Later  still  he 
built  the  convents  of  Angota  and  Nagasaki. 

The  Emperor  of  Japan,  finding  that  the 
work  was  being  carried  on  with  more  vigor 
than  ever,  had  the  Philippine  missionaries  ar- 
rested and  condemned  to  death  by  crucifix- 
ion. Others  were  only  banished,  thus  losing,  as  a 
Philippine  author  says,  "the  greatest  hope  of  their 
lives,  the  hope  of  being  able  to  seal  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  with  their  blood."  But  twenty-six  mission- 
aries and  native  converts  were  mutilated  and  exhibited 
from  town  to  town  and  finally  crucified  on  a  hill  near 


I76  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Nagasaki.  Foreman  justly  asks:  "Would  Buddhist 
missionaries  in  Spain  have  met  with  milder  treatment 
at  the  hands  of  the  Inquisitors?"  The  Emperor  jus- 
tified his  course  in  a  letter  to  the  Governor  of  Manila 
on  the  ground  that  the  missionaries  had  entered  his 
realm  under  the  false  guise  of  ambassadors.  The 
Jesuits  declared  that  the  Franciscans  had  died  under 
the  ban  of  the  church,  having  violated  a  bull  of  the 
Pope,  which  had  assigned  Japan  to  Francis  Xavier. 
But  neither  Emperor  nor  Jesuit,  nor  the  cross  could 
deter  the  ardent  missionaries.  More  went,  Dominicans 
as  well  as  Franciscans.  In  1622  four  of  the  latter  and 
two  of  the  former,  along  with  many  natives,  were 
burned  to  death.  The  authorities  at  Manila,  both  civil 
and  ecclesiastical,  forbade  the  throwing  away  of  any 
more  lives  in  Japan.  Still  missionaries  longed  to  go 
and  employed  Chinese  junks  to  carry  them.  A  bull  of 
Pope  Urban  VIII.  declared  those  who  had  laid  down 
their  lives  for  Japan  to  be  martyrs  and  saints. 

173.  The  first  Dominicans  to  go  as  missionaries 
from  Manila  to  Japan  were  a  band  of  five  with  Francis 
de  Morales  at  the  head.  They  dedicated  their  first 
church  in  Japan  at  Quiodomari  in  1606.  A  little  later 
they  built  three  churches  in  the  province  of  Figen.  In 
1610  they  built  one  in  the  imperial  capital,  Tokio,  and 
soon  after  another  in  Osaka. 

The  Augustinians  of  the  Philippines  also  had  work- 
ers in  Japan  under  the  leadership  of    Ferdinand  of  St. 
Joseph.      In  1612  there  were  on  the  field  four  of  this 
order,  nine  Dominicans,  fourteen  Franciscans  and  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three  Jesuits.     In  spite  of  much 


JAPAN    AND    FORMOSA.  177 

jealousy  the  various  orders  co-operated  to  a  consider- 
able extent  in  the  common  work.  For  instance,  they 
combined  in  building  hospitals.  The  plain  facts  of 
history  in  many  lands  show  that  sectarianism  in  the 
Roman  church  has  been  as  intense  as  that  outside  of  it, 
and  neither  better  nor  worse. 

174.  As  in  every  land  the  most  vital  work  of  evan- 
gelism was  performed  by  the  people  of  the  land.  Han- 
jiro  was  the  spokesman  of  Xavier.  He  translated  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew  and  some  ritual  documents  into 
Japanese.  The  members  of  the  nobility  who  were  con- 
verted had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity, but  not  they  alone.  A  poor,  blind  peddler  of 
combs  and  needles,  christened  Matthew,  went  every- 
where in  his  business  earnestly  proclaiming  Christ 
from  house  to  house.  One  of  the  noblemen  attributed 
his  conversion  to  the  convincing  words  of  this  Mat- 
thew. 

175.  There  are  various  estimates  of  the  number  of 
converts,  ranging  from  600,000  to  2,000,000.  A  most 
exact  statement  is  made  as  to  the  number  converted  in 
one  period  of  only  nineteen  years  (1603-1622).  It  is 
239,339.  Many  of  the  converts  had  little  Christian 
instruction.  It  is  no  wonder  that  multitudes  aposta- 
tized in  the  hour  of  trial.  The  wonder  is  that  so  many 
stood  the  test.  There  are  said  to  have  been  37,000 
martyrs.  It  is  certain  that  Christianity  was  thickly 
planted  in  all  southwestern  Japan,  with  Nagasaki  as 
a  center. 

176.  As  we  are  studying  the  planting,  not  the  up- 
rooting of  Christianity,  we  must  leave  the  subject  here, 


178  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

only  remarking  that  one  of  the  most  terrific  persecu- 
tions that  the  world  has  ever  seen  apparently  succeeded 
in  eradicating  the  new  faith  from  Japan.  The  museum 
in  Tokio  contains  specimens  of  the  little  metal  cruci- 
fixes which  all  Japanese  subjects  suspected  of  Chris- 
tianity were  required  to  trample  under  foot.  Here  is 
the  final  imperial  decree  : 

"So  long  as  the  sun  shall  warm  the  earth,  let  no  Christian 
be  so  bold  as  to  come  to  Japan,  and  let  all  know  that  the  king 
of  Spain  himself,  or  the  Christian's  God,  or  the  great  God 
of  all,  if  he  violate  this  command,  shall  pay  the  forfeit  with 
his  head." 

In  spite  of  such  decrees  posted  about  Japan  till  after 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries  were  permitted  to  resume  work 
in  the  country,  they  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Nagasaki 
10,000  people  who  had  been  keeping  up  some  Christian 
prayers  and  practices  which  had  been  handed  down 
through  the  200  years  of  desolation.  It  was  a  thrilling 
moment,  the  17th  of  March,  1865,  when  the  first  group 
of  these  came  to  the  new  Roman  Catholic  church  in 
Nagasaki  and  said  to  the  French  missionary,  M.  Petit- 
jean.  "In  our  hearts,  all  we  who  are  present  are  the 
same  as  you,"  and,  speaking  of  the  village  from  which 
they  had  come :  "At  home  nearly  every  one  thinks  as 
we  do."  Later,  copies  of  prayerbooks  used  in  the 
Christian  communities  were  brought,  which  proved, 
"with  the  exception  of  some  faults  of  pronunciation 
and  mistakes  in  copying,"  to  contain  correct  transla- 
tions of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Apostle's  Creed  and 
five  or  six  other  formulas  which  had  been  taught  by 
the  missionaries  six  generations  before. 


JAPAN    AND    FORMOSA.  I79 

177.  Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  the  Japanese 
had  won  from  the  Chinese  and  held  possession  of  a 
portion  of  the  island  of  Formosa.  They  were  expelled 
by  the  Dutch,  who  built  in  1624  two  forts  on  the  west 
coast,  Zealandia  and  Providentia.  They  held  posses- 
sion for  nearly  forty  years.  During  that  time  they 
carried  on  extensive  missionary  operations  among  the 
natives.  Twenty-nine  different  ordained  ministers 
labored  there,  but  most  of  them  for  only  a  few  months 
each.  Their  work  was  as  brilliant  as  that  of  the  Jesuits 
in  other  places,  and  of  much  the  same  character  as  far 
as  depth  and  permanence  are  concerned. 

Mr.  William  Campbell's  "Account  of  the  Missionary 
Success  in  the  Island  of  Formosa"  renders  an  in- 
valuable service  to  all  serious  students  of  missions  by 
putting  the  primary  documents  within  reach.  The 
following  extracts  will  not  only  enable  the  original 
actors  in  Formosa  to  tell  their  own  story,  but  will  also 
give  us  a  reliable  glimpse  into  the  missionary  methods 
of  the  Dutch  in  their  wide  oriental  possessions. 

178.  George  Candidus,  the  first  missionary  to  For- 
mosa, when  he  had  been  there  sixteen  months  was  able 
to  write : 

"I  have  used  great  diligence  to  learn  the  language  of  the 
people  and  to  instruct  them  in  the  Christian  faith,  and  have 
succeeded  so  far  that,  a  fortnight  before  Christinas  of  the 
present  year,  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  persons 
who  knew  the  Prayers  and  were  able  to  explain  in  the  most 
satisfactory  manner  the  principal  Articles  of  the  Christian 
faith,  but  who,  for  certain  reasons,  have  not  yet  been  bap- 
tized." 

Candidus  argued  for  the  Dutch  retention  of  that 
island  in  words  which  sound  the  same  as  those  used 


l80  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

two  hundred  and  seventy  years  later  by  people  of  the 
United  States  in  respect  to  islands  very  near  Formosa : 
"The  island  should  not  be  abandoned  or  given  up  by 
us ;  for,  in  that  case,  it  would  either  be  annexed  by  the 
Spaniards  or  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Japanese,  who 
would  not  afford  any  shelter  or  protection  to  the  Chris- 
tian religion." 

179.  The  second  missionary,  Robertus  Junius,  ren- 
dered distinguished  service.  At  the  end  of  thirteen 
years  he  could  report  that  one  thousand  and  seventy 
people  had  been  baptized  at  a  single  station,  Soulang, 
"and  a  proportionate  number  in  the  other  villages,"  of 
which  he  names  five.  The  most  satisfactory  station 
was  Sinkang.  The  following  from  the  same  letter 
shows  clearly  the  sort  of  mission  work  done  by  the 
Hollanders  and  its  success : 

"More  and  more  their  former  manners  and  customs  are 
disappearing,  and  they  are  conforming  to  our  ways;  which 
shows  that  it  requires  time  and  proper  instruction  to  convert 
the  heathen.  It  would  be  very  desirable  if  the  good  example 
of  Sinkang  as  regards  Christianity  could  be  imitated  by  the 
other  villages,  the  inhabitants  of  which,  however,  are  all  bap- 
tized, and  most  of  them  married  according  to  Christian  rites. 
They  also  regulate  their  outward  conduct  in  every  respect 
according  to  the  Christian  Church  in  Holland,  and  are  very 
punctual  in  their  attendance  at  God's  House  on  the  Sabbath, 
coming  to  church  in  the  morning  and  evening  to  be  instructed 
in  the  Christian  religion,  or  rather  to  repeat  what  they  have 
already  learnt,  in  order  that  they  should  thus  remember  it 
better.  .  .  .  The  priestesses,  who  were  so  seri- 
ous an  obstacle  to  our  work,  have  now  lost  all  power,  and 
are  treated  with  contempt  on  account  of  the  many  falsehoods 
they  formerly  promulgated ;  nor  are  they  allowed  to  enter  any 
houses  except  their  own,  being  thus  prevented  from  practicing 


JAPAN   AND   FORMOSA.  l8l 

their  former  idolatry.     The  schools  continue  to  flourish,  and 
many  of  the  people  can  read  fluently  and  write  fairly  well." 

After  Mr.  Junius  returned  to  Holland  a  friend  of  his 
there  sent  on  some  account  of  his  work  to  a  Mr.  Jessie, 
who  published  an  English  translation  in  1650.  Speak- 
ing of  the  large  number  of  baptisms  he  says, 
"of  which  number  of  persons,  so  Dipt  in  Water,  the  In- 
fants   of    persons    in    covenant    are    not    reckoned." 

Of  the  adults  he  says, 

"Moreover,  many  of  them  are  so  able,  in  such  fervencie  of 
spirit  to  poure  out  their  prayers  before  God,  Morning  and 
Evening,  and  before  and  after  taking  of  Meat,  and  in  other 
Necessities;  and  that  with  such  comlinesse  and  fitnesse  of 
speech,  and  with  such  moderation  and  decencie  of  gesture; 
that  may  provoke  tears  to  such  as  heare  and  behold  them. 
And  there  are  some  of  them,  that  being  called  to  pray  about 
any  matter  or  businesse,  are  able  to  perform  it  in  conceived 
prayer,  ex  tempore,  so  readily,  in  such  fit  expressions,  and 
with  such  arguments  and  pithinesse,  as  if  they  had  been  spend- 
ing some  houres  for  the  contriving  and  so  framing  of  them." 

180.  In  1643  there  were  six  hundred  children  in 
the  schools,  "including  some  who  can  write  fairly  well 
in  Latin  characters."  The  following  from  a  letter  of 
the  Consistory  of  Formosa  to  the  Classis  of  Amster- 
dam reveals  a  mission  work  of  such  genuine  as  well  as 
phenomenal  character  that  one  is  led  to  hope  that  there 
was  more  of  real  value  in  the  mission  work  of  the 
Dutch  in  Ceylon,  Java  and  elsewhere  than  is  commonly 
thought.  Still,  the  small  number  of  communicants  in 
the  model  village  where  so  many  hundreds  had  been 
baptized  shows  that  the  work  was  not  of  the  deepest 
kind : 

"The  daily  instruction  is  regularly  continued,  and  much 
progress  is   made,    the   brunt  of  the   work   falling   upon   our 


l82  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

native  teachers,  who  perform  their  work  most  admirably ; 
for  which  reason  we  have  induced  the  Governor  to  grant  them 
a  real  per  month  each,  in  the  hope  that  Mr.  Junius,  on  arriv- 
ing in  Batavia,  will  be  able  to  get  their  salaries  increased. 
There  are  fifty  of  them  in  these  six  villages  who  are  all  thor- 
oughly instructed  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
able  to  communicate  to  their  countrymen  the  saving  knowl- 
edge in  such  a  way  that  even  many  of  the  Scripture  Readers 
(lit.  Sick- Visitants)  could  not  be  compared  with  them. 

"Little  confidence  can  be  placed  in  the  Dutch  schoolmasters, 
some  of  them  giving  very  great  offence  to  those  weak  Chris- 
tians ;  and  although  one  of  them  was  recently  decapitated  on 
account  of  his  misdeeds,  others  still  refuse  to  take  warning 
from  this  punishment,  and  persevere  in  their  wickedness ; 
so  that,  not  long  ago,  we  were  obliged  to  deliver  another  who 
behaved  scandalously  into  the  hands  of  the  civil  authorities. 

181.  "Our  brother  the  Rev.  Robert  Junius  has  baptized  in 
these  six  villages  upwards  of  five  thousand  and  four  hundred 
persons ;  of  whom  all  that  are  living — with  the  exception  of  the 
young  children — repeat  fluently  the  'Law  of  God,'  the  'Articles 
of  Belief,'  the  'Lord's  Prayer,'  the  'Morning  and  Evening 
Prayers,'  the  'Prayers  before  and  after  meals,'  and  the  'Ques- 
tions concerning  the  Christian  Religion,'  which  is  a  catechism 
Mr.  Junius  will  show  to  you.  More  than  a  thousand  couples 
have  also  been  united  in  marriage  by  him,  and  so  far  as  we 
know,  they  all  live  in  conformity  with  their  marriage  vows. 

"Some  months  ago  our  beloved  colleague  administered  the 
Holy  Communion  to  the  chiefs  of  Soulang  and  more  than 
sixty  people  of  Sinkang;  who  all,  with  proper  reverence,  par- 
took of  the  Lord's  bread  and  drank  from  His  cup,  by  this 
conduct  giving  the  assurance  that  they  really  partook  of  the 
blessing  which  the  Holy  Communion  holds  out  to  us." 

Daniel  Gravius,  one  of  the  most  learned  and 
also  highly  esteemed  ministers  at  Batavia,  Java,  then 
capital  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  nobly  insisted,  in  spite 


JAPAN   AND   FORMOSA.  l8^ 

of  the  protests  of  his  congregation,  on  going  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  Formosa. 

The  missions  suffered  seriously  from  the  short  term 
of  service  in  vogue,  generally  but  two  or  three  years, 
seldom  more  than  four  or  five.  Junius,  who  had  such 
great  ingatherings,  remained  twelve  years.  Only  one 
other  man  was  so  long  on  the  field.  The  Formosa 
Classis  made  pleading  appeals  to  Holland  for  greater 
permanency  of  service. 

182.  They  also  begged  for  a  printing-press,  so  that 
lessons  in  the  hands  of  the  people  might  help  to  stabil- 
ity. Their  appeal  on  this  point  reveals  a  great  weak- 
ness in  their  methods : 

"Perhaps  it  is  sufficient  to  give  you  a  slight  idea  of  the 
method  followed  in  the  education  of  these  new  converts  (a 
method  which  leads  us  to  urge  our  request  with  much  earnest- 
ness) when  we  state  that  the  instruction  given  in  our  numer- 
ous and  populous  villages  is  viva  voce,  the  people  having  to 
repeat  what  has  first  been  recited  to  them  by  one  or  two  of  the 
schoolmasters.  Now,  as  a  great  many  persons  have  to  be  in- 
structed, and  as  we  must  avoid  straining  their  powers  too 
much,  they  receive  lessons  in  companies,  and  each  company 
only  once  every  two  or  three  weeks.  We  have  thus  very  little 
hope  that  the  instruction  given  in  one  week  will  be  remem- 
bred  by  them  during  the  interval ;  our  frequent  experience 
being  that,  when  the  time  for  instruction  comes  round  again, 
they  have  forgotten  everything  and  have  gone  backward — 
all  this  arising  from  the  want  of  books,  and  from  their  own 
weakness  of  memory  and  unwillingness  to  remember  what 
has  been  told  them." 

These  staid  and  honest  Dutchmen  were  not  without 
gleams  of  humor.  Witness  the  following  paragraph 
in  their  plea  for  a  printing  press : 

"There  is  no  need  to  fear  that  the  multitude  of  writers  or 


184  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

authors  which  may  unexpectedly  arise  will  entail  greater 
expenses  on  the  Company  or  become  a  burden  to  the  churches ; 
since  it  is  our  intention— if  the  present  request  be  granted— 
to  keep  this  current  so  effectively  in  check  that  there  will  be 
no  danger  of  the  water  at  any  time  rising  so  high  as  to  cause 
an  inundation  or  the  breaking  of  the  dykes." 

183.  The  civil  and  ecclesiastical  government  of 
Formosa,  growing  impatient  with  the  native  slowness 
to  adopt  Christian  religion  and  morals,  enacted  that 
"idolatry  in  the  first  degree  shall  be  punished  with 
public  whipping  and  banishment."  But  the  law  was 
annulled  by  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Dutch  East, 
India  Company  at  home.  Their  communication  on  this 
subject,  dated  Amsterdam,  April  16,  1660,  is  worthy 
of  the  thrilling  history  of  Holland  in  regard  to  relig- 
ious liberty : 

"Our  conviction  is  that  if  we  cannot  influence  the  inhab- 
itants by  precept  and  instruction,  they  are  much  less  likely  to 
be  influenced  by  severe  punishments  of  this  kind;  and  as 
we  are  of  opinion  that  Christians  ought  in  no  case  to  resort 
to  such  measures,  it  has  greatly  surprised  us  that  the  Consist- 
ory should  have  given  consent  to  their  adoption  in  the  present 
case.  Thus,  although  the  object  be  to  Christianize  the  natives, 
we  cannot  refrain  from  declaring  that  these  measures  sorely 
displease  us,  because  they  may  be  considered  harsh  and  cruel, 
and  because  they  are  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  character  of 
the  Dutch  nation." 

184.  The  Dutch  were  driven  out  of  Formosa  by 
the  Chinese  under  a  general  named  Koxinga,  and  their 
work  was  swiftly  obliterated.  In  the  midst  of  their 
heroic  and  desperate  struggle  to  hold  their  ground 
they  adopted  the  following  resolution  : 

"To  open  negotiations  with  Koxinga ;  but,  first  of  all,  to 
consider:  That  in  all  negotiations  the  principal  object  to  be 
kept  in  view  is  that,  henceforth,  our  clergymen  shall  have 


JAPAN    AND    FORMOSA.  185 

full  and  perfect  liberty  to  instruct  the  Formosan  Christians 
who,  by  the  grace  of  God,  have  already  been  taught  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  Gospel.  The  most  strenuous  efforts  are  to  be 
made  to  have  this  condition  granted,  inasmuch  as  we  take 
nothing  else  so  much  to  heart  as  the  honor  of  God's  most 
holy  name,  and  the  establishment  and  progress  of  the  Re- 
formed religion." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

EGYPT  AND  ABYSSINIA. 

185.  African  influence  in  early  Christianity.  186.  Had- 
rian's criticism.  187.  Christian  education  in  the  second 
century.  188.  Missionary  literature  written  in  the  sec- 
ond century.  189.  Clement's  "Exhortation  to  the  Hea- 
then." 190.  The  work  of  Origen.  191.  Early  suc- 
cesses and  reverses  of  Christianity  in  Egypt.  192. 
Francis  of  Assisi.  193.  Extract  from  the  letter  of  a  cru- 
sader. 194.  Moravian  missions.  195.  Cyrene.  196. 
Ethiopia.  197.  Candace's  treasurer.  198.  Frumen- 
tius  and  Edessius.  199.  Athanasius  organizes  a  mis- 
sionary expedition.        200.  Nubia. 

185.  Of  twenty  greatest  names  in  the  history  of 
Christianity  in  the  first  four  centuries  after  the  apostles 
more  than  one-half  belong  to  Africa.  Remembering 
Origen,  Athanasius  and  Augustine,  one  cannot  hesitate 
to  say  that  Africa  exerted  the  chief  moulding  influence 
on  the  first  half-millennium  of  Christianity,  and  to  a 
large  extent  on  all  the  ages  since.  Even  before  Augus- 
tine, in  the  early  formative  centuries,  more  than  half 
of  the  Ante-Nicene  Library  is  of  African  origin. 

We  may  never  know  who  was  the  first  to  carry  a 
knowledge  of  the  Messiah  into  the  land  which  had 
sheltered  him  in  his  infancy.  It  was  the  land  which 
had  cradled  the  Messianic  race  and  its  eman- 
cipator, Moses,  and,  later  on,  it  became  the  nur- 
186 


EGYPT   AND    ABYSSINIA.  1 87 

sery  of  missionary  Judaism  with  its  noble 
Philo.  It  seems  natural  to  think  that  some  true  Israel- 
ite must  have  told  there  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth 
even  before  his  ascension.  It  is  certain  that  but  ten 
days  after  that  event  "dwellers  in  Egypt"  heard  about 
Christ  in  the  tongue  wherein  they  were  born. 

The  traditions  about  the  fields  of  labor  of  the  apostles 
are  too  confused  and  many  of  them  too  late  to  be 
reliable.  But  at  least  five  writers  as  early  as  the  third 
century  state  that  Mark  labored  in  Egypt.  There 
seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  planted  Christianity 
there  in  the  first  century. 

186.  The  first  contemporary  notice  of  Christians  in 
Egypt,  however,  is  from  the  pen  of  an  enemy,  occur- 
ring in  a  letter  from  the  Emperor  Hadrian  (A.  D. 
1 17-138)  to  the  Consul  Servanus.  Hadrian,  fond  of 
travel  and  of  architecture,  was  also  a  curious  observer 
of  society.  He  did  not  see  the  sober  and  sincere  Chris- 
tianity which  could  have  been  found  in  Alexandria,  but 
rather  the  superficial  forms  of  philosophy  and  eclectic 
religion  which  existed  in  that  cosmopolitan  city.  He 
says: 

"I  have  become  perfectly  familiar  with  Egypt,  which  you 
praised  to  me.  It  is  fickle,  uncertain,  blown  about  by  every 
gust  of  rumor.  Those  who  worship  Serapis  are  Christians, 
and  those  who  are  devoted  to  Serapis  call  themselves  bishops 
of  Christ.  There  is  no  ruler  of  a  synagogue  there,  no  Samar- 
itan, no  Christian  presbyter,  who  is  not  an  astrologer,  a 
sooth-sayer,  a  quack.  The  patriarch  himself  (*.  e.,  the  Jewish 
patriarch,  for  there  were  no  Christian  patriarchs  at  this  time), 
whenever  he  comes  to  Egypt,  is  compelled  by  some  to  worship 
Serapis,  by  others  to  worship  Christ." 

187.  From  better  informed  sources  it  is  known  that 


l88  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

within  a  hundred  years  after  the  last  of  the  apostles 
there  was  a  large  well-to-do  Christian  community  in 
Alexandria,  having  church  buildings  of  their  own. 
There  were  twelve  city  parishes  with  pastors.  A 
Christian  school  had  been  established  beside  the  great 
heathen  university  for  which  the  city  was  famous.  The 
new  Christian  school  was  one  of  the  first  of  missionary 
training  schools.  It  admitted  both  men  and  women. 
The  first  principal  of  this  school  was  Pantaenus.  He 
was  well  versed  in  Greek  philosophy.  Only  half  a 
dozen  lines  from  his  scholarly  pen  have  been  preserved 
to  our  day.  They  are  concerning  the  relations  of  the 
Greek  to  the  Hebrew  verb.  We  know  that  he  went  on 
a  missionary  tour  to  India,  leaving  his  school  work  for 
the  time  in  the  hands  of  his  brilliant  pupil,  Clement, 
who  was  a  good  example  of  the  effect  of  the  mission- 
ary work  of  Pantaenus  among  "the  heathen  at  home," 
who  existed,  not  as  an  excuse  but  as  a  reality  in  those 
days.  Clement  had  been  reared  in  the  proud  pagan 
schools  of  Athens.  But  not  satisfied  with  what  phil- 
osophy could  teach  him,  he  wandered  far  abroad  in 
search  of  knowledge.  At  last  in  the  teacher  of  the 
little  Christian  academy  held  in  the  house  of  Pantae- 
nus, he  found  that  for  which  his  soul  hungered. 

1 88.  On  the  death  of  Pantaenus  Clement  became 
head  of  the  school  and  the  author  of  many  learned 
works.  All  but  the  names  of  most  of  them  have  been 
lost.  Three  of  his  works  remain,  however,  filling  two 
good-sized  volumes.  Of  the  three  two  are  as  distinctly 
missionary  in  their  composition  and  purpose  as  any 
which  have  been  written  by  Carey  or  Ashmore.    One 


EGYPT   AND  ABYSSINIA.  189 

of  these  he  entitled  "An  Exhortation  to  the  Heathen," 
the  other  "The  Instructor,"  this  last  being  intended  to 
teach  the  converts  from  heathenism  how  to  follow 
Christ  in  all  things.  Clement's  "Exhortation  to  the 
Heathen"  is  one  of  the  first  of  missionary  writings,  not 
only  in  point  of  time,  but  also  in  breadth  of  sympathy, 
in  charming  scholarship  and  in  fervor  of  evangelistic 
appeal.  A  history  of  missions  would  be  seriously  de- 
fective without  a  glimpse  of  the  contents  of  this  great 
missionary  document  which  was  written  fewer  than  one 
hundred  years  after  the  Apostle  John  had  laid  down  his 
pen.  The  translation  occupies  one  hundred  pages  in 
the  Ante-Nicene  Library.  We  can  take  only  a  para- 
graph here  and  there  from  the  pages  which  expose 
with  a  keen  and  merciless  pen  the  combination  of  im- 
morality and  folly  in  the  mythology  and  in  the  idolatry 
of  heathenism,  then  recognize  the  gleams  of  truth  and 
the  inspiration  of  some  of  the  loftiest  reaches  of  pagan 
philosophers  and  poets,  passing  on  to  the  true  dignity 
of  man  in  fellowship  with  the  Word  of  God,  the  Light 
of  the  World. 

189.  "Let  the  secret  shrines  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  necro- 
mancies of  the  Etruscans  be  consigned  to  darkness.  Insane 
devices  truly  are  they  all  of  unbelieving  men.  Goats,  too, 
have  been  confederates  in  this  art  of  soothsaying,  trained  to 
divination ;  and  crows  taught  by  men  to  give  oracular  re- 
sponses to  men.  .  .  .  We  must  not  either  keep 
the  Pythagoreans  in  the  background,  who  say :  'God  is  one ; 
and  He  is  not,  as  some  suppose,  outside  of  this  frame  of 
things,  but  within  it;  but,  in  all  the  entireness  of  His  being, 
is  in  the  whole  circle  of  existence,  surveying  all  nature,  and 
blending  in  harmonious  union  the  whole — the  author  of  all 
His  own  forces  and  works,  the  giver  of  light  in  heaven,  and 


I90  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

Father  of  all — the  mind  and  vital  power  of  the  whole  world — 
the  mover  of  all  things.'  For  the  knowledge  of  God,  these 
utterances,  written  by  those  we  have  mentioned,  through  the 
inspiration  of  God,  and  selected  by  us,  may  suffice  even  for 
the  man   that   has   but   small   power   to   examine   the   truth. 

"Let  your  Phidias,  and  Polycletus,  and  your  Praxiteles  and 
Appelles,  too,  come,  and  all  that  are  engaged  in  mechanical 
arts,  who,  being  themselves  of  the  earth,  are  workers  of  the 
earth.  'For  then,'  says  a  certain  prophecy,  'the  affairs  here 
turned  out  unfortunately,  when  men  put  their  trust  in  im- 
ages.' Let  the  meaner  artists,  too — for  I  will  not  stop  calling — 
come.  None  of  these  ever  made  a  breathing  image,  or  out  of 
earth  moulded  soft  flesh.  Who  liquefied  marrow?  or  who 
solidified  the  bones?  Who  stretched  the  nerves?  Who  dis- 
tended thq  veins?  Who  poured  the  blood  into  them?  Or 
who  spread  the  skin  ?  Whoever  could  have  made  eyes  capable 
of  seeing?  Who  breathed  spirit  into  the  lifeless  form?  Who 
bestowed  righteousness?  Who  promised  immortality?  The 
Maker  of  the  universe  alone ;  the  Great  Artist  and  Father  has 
formed  us,  such  a  living  image  as  man  is.  But  your  Olym- 
pian Jove,  the  image  of  an  image,  greatly  out  of  harmony 
with  truth,  is  then  senseless  work  of  Attic  hands.  For  the 
image  of  God  is  His  Word,  the  genuine  Son  of  Mind,  the 
Divine  Word,  the  archetypal  light  of  light ;  and  the  image 
of  the  Word  is  the  true  man,  the  mind  which  is  in  man,  who 
is  therefore  said  to  have  been  made  'in  the  image  and  likeness 
of  God,'  assimilated  to  the  Divine  Word  in  the  affections  of 
the  soul,  and  therefore  rational ;  but  effigies  sculptured  in 
human  form,  the  earthly  image  of  that  part  of  man  which  is 
visible  and  earth-born,  are  but  a  perishable  impress  of  human- 
ity, manifestly  wide  of  the  truth.  That  life,  then,  which  is 
occupied  with  so  much  earnestness  about  matter,  seems  to  me 
to  be  nothing  else  than  full  of  insanity. 

"As,  then,  we  do  not  compel  the  horse  to  plough,  or  the  bull 
to  hunt,  but  set  each  animal  to  that  for  which  it  is  by  nature 
fitted;  so,  placing  our  finger  on  what  is  man's  peculiar  and 


EGYPT  AND  ABYSSINIA.  191 

distinguishing  characteristic  above  other  creatures,  we  invite 
him — born,  as  he  is,  for  the  contemplation  of  heaven,  and 
being,  as  he  is,  a  truly  heavenly  plant — to  the  knowledge  of 
God,  counselling  him  to  furnish  himself  with  what  is  his  suf- 
ficient provision  for  eternity,  namely,  piety.  Practice  hus- 
bandry, we  say,  if  you  are  a  husbandman ;  but  while  you  till 
your  fields,  know  God.  Sail  the  sea,  you  who  are  devoted  to 
navigation,  yet  call  the  whilst  on  the  heavenly  Pilot.  Has 
knowledge  taken  hold  of  you  while  engaged  in  military  ser- 
vice? Listen  to  the  commander,  who  orders  what  is  right. 
As  those,  then,  who  have  been  overpowered  with  sleep  and 
drunkenness,  do  ye  awake;  and,  using  your  eyes  a  little,  con- 
sider what  mean  those  stones  which  you  worship,  and  the  ex- 
penditure you  frivolously  lavish  on  the  matter. 

"For  just  as,  had  the  sun  not  been  in  existence,  night  would 
have  brooded  over  the  universe  notwithstanding  the  other 
luminaries  of  heaven ;  so,  had  we  not  known  the  Word,  and 
been  illuminated  by  Him,  we  should  have  been  nowise  differ- 
ent from  fowls  that  are  being  fed,  fattened  in  darkness,  and 
nourished  for  death.  Let  us  then  admit  the  light,  that  we  may 
admit  God ;  let  us  admit  the  light,  and  become  disciples  to  the 
Lord." 

190.  We  get  a  vivid  idea  of  the  extent  of  early  mis- 
sionary activity  in  Africa  when  we  remember  that 
Clement  was  preceded  by  Pantsenus  and  that  Clement 
completed  his  own  prodigious  labors,  of  which  we  have 
spoken,  by  the  year  202. 

In  that  year  he  was  driven  from  Alexandria  by  im- 
perial persecution.  But  the  work  did  not  cease.  A 
young  man  by  the  name  of  Origfen,  but  eighteen  years 
of  age,  was  appointed  his  successor  at  the  head  of  the 
training  school.  Origen  became  one  of  the  greatest 
scholars  and  most  voluminous  writers  the  Christian 
world  has  ever  had.  One  of  his  latest  writings  and  the 
one  commonly  counted  of  the  greatest  interest  in  mod- 


192  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

em  times  was  a  missionary  document,  though  much 
less  directly  so  than  the  writings  of  Clement.  A  work 
had  been  written  by  one  Celsus  attacking  Christianity 
all  along  the  line  so  elaborately  that  unbelievers  to  this 
day  have  invented  little  that  is  new  to  say  against  it. 
Origen  took  up  the  extensive  attack  and  met  it  point 
by  point  in  a  great  work  of  620  chapters  entitled 
"Against  Celsus."  As  many  a  self-supposed  genius 
would  have  been  saved  needless  repetition  of  labor  al- 
ready performed  by  consulting  the  records  of  the 
Patent  Office,  so  many  an  upstart  critic  of  Christianity 
might  well  have  saved  himself  useless  repetition  of 
paganistic  invention  by  first  carefully  reading  Origen 
against  Celsus. 

191.  By  such  colossal  championship  Christianity 
was  firmly  seated  in  Egypt.  On  that  throne  a  little 
later  "Athanasius  against  the  world"  wielded  a  scepter 
which  to  the  present  hour  influences  the  thought  of 
Christendom. 

Christianity  not  only  attained  great  depth  and  height 
in  Egypt  at  an  early  date,  but  also  wide  extent.  As 
early  as  the  year  235  a  council  was  attended  by  twenty 
bishops.  This,  however,  was  scarcely  past  the  middle 
of  the  early  missionary  period  in  the  land  of  the  Phar- 
aohs. The  evangelization  of  the  country  seems  to  have 
reached  a  sort  of  culmination  about  the  year  400,  when 
the  Emperor  Arcadius  granted  one  of  the  heathen 
temples  in  Alexandria  to  the  Christians  for  a  church. 
They  opened  up  the  secret  sanctuary  and  made  a  public 
procession  to  display  the  obscene  and  ridiculous  objects 
which  they  had  found  in  the  temple.    The  pagans  were 


FRANCIS  OF  ASSISI. 


EGYPT   AND   ABYSSINIA.  I93 

so  incensed  that  they  fortified  themselves  in  the  splen- 
did temple  called  the  Serapeum  and  dragged  in  many 
Christians,  torturing  them  and  putting  them  to  a  cruel 
death.  This  was  one  of  the  final  outbursts  of  pagan- 
ism. The  Emperor  transformed  the  Serapeum  itself 
into  a  church. 

In  the  seventh  century  the  shock  of  Mohammedan- 
ism shattered,  but  failed  to  destroy,  Egyptian  Chris- 
tianity. The  Koptic  Church  still  exists  as  an  immov- 
able, but  also,  alas !  an  immobile  remnant. 

192.  Early  in  the  thirteenth  century  Francis  of 
Assist,  the  Father  of  modern  missions,  made  a  brave 
effort  to  infuse  a  new  tide  of  Christian  life  into  Egypt. 
In  1 2 13  he  endeavored  to  go  to  Syria,  and  a  little  later 
to  Morocco,  but  without  success.  In  1219  he  sent  to 
Morocco  a  devoted  band  of  missionaries,  who  found 
martyrdom  there.  He,  with  eleven  others,  went  to  the 
Levant.  Leaving  a  part  of  his  comrades  in  Syria,  he 
followed  a  crusading  army  to  Egypt.  In  the  very 
height  of  the  hostilities  there  he  made  his  way  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  Sultan  of  Egypt.  The  perfectly 
transparent  simplicity  and  sincerity  of  Francis  were 
appreciated  by  the  Saracen  and  he  was  allowed  oppor- 
tunity to  present  the  claims  of  Christ  in  the  midst  of 
the  camp  of  the  followers  of  Mohammed.  Here  is  an 
extract  from  a  letter  written  at  the  time  to  friends  in 
Europe  by  one  of  the  crusaders : 

193.  "The  master  of  these  Brothers  is  Brother  Francis;  he  is 
so  lovable  that  he  is  venerated  by  every  one.  Having  come  into 
our  army,  he  has  not  been  afraid,  in  his  zeal  for  the  faith,  to 
go  to  that  of  our  enemies.  For  days  together  he  announced 
the  word  of  God  to  the  Saracens,  but  with  little  success;  then 


194  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

the  sultan,  King  of  Egypt,  asked  him  in  secret  to  entreat  God 
to  reveal  to  him,  by  some  miracle,  which  is  the  best  religion." 

194.  Near  the  end  of  the  period  we  are  studying 
a  more  persistent  missionary  effort  was  made  in  Egypt. 
This  time  it  was  by  the  Moravians,  who,  the  world 
over,  share  with  Franciscans  and  Jesuits  the  honors  of 
missionary  zeal. 

In  1752  Hocker,  the  same  Moravian  missionary 
who  had  been  through  such  terrible  experiences  in  at- 
tempting a  work  in  Persia,  undertook  a  mission  to 
Abyssinia.  For  more  than  thirty  years  the  Brethren 
endeavored  to  effect  their  object  through  Egypt  as  a 
base.  Some  of  their  experiences  were  highly  heroic. 
But  at  last  the  attempt  to  enter  Abyssinia  was  aban- 
doned and  likewise  the  base  of  operations  in  Egypt. 

195.  Since  it  was  Simon  of  Cyrene  who  had  the 
unique  distinction  of  helping  Jesus  in  carrying  the 
cross  to  Calvary,  we  can  but  wish  that  we  had  some  de- 
tails of  the  early  preaching  of  the  cross  in  Simon's 
country.  We  only  know  that  it  became  one  of  the 
earliest  of  missionary  fields,  and,  it  would  seem,  a  rad- 
iating center  of  the  missionary  spirit.  Without  doubt 
some  of  the  "dwellers  in  the  parts  of  Libya  about 
Cyrene"  carried  the  pentecostal  fire  home.  It  is  to  the 
everlasting  glory  of  this  part  of  Africa  that  only  eight 
years  after  Pentecost  it  was  men  of  Cyrene,  along  with 
those  of  Cyprus,  who  were  the  first  of  the  followers  of 
Jesus  persistently  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  heathen, 
which  they  did  so  effectually  at  Antioch  that  "a  great 
number  that  believed  turned  unto  the  Lord."  One  of 
these  early  missionaries  was  Lucius   of   Cyrene.      It 


EGYPT   AND   ABYSSINIA.  195 

seems  natural  to  think  that  his  comrade  in  the  work, 
"Simeon  that  was  called  the  Black"  was  a  man  with 
much  real  African  blood  in  his  veins.  The  name,  how- 
ever, may  have  been  no  more  significant  of  that  than 
"Simon  Black"  would  be  now.  But  we  know  from 
Herodotus  that  the  Greek  settlers  of  Cyrene  coalesced 
with  the  natives  more  than  colonists  elsewhere  have 
done.  We  have  seen  that  it  was  also  a  favorite  Jewish 
colony.  Whether  of  Greek,  Negro  or  Jewish  stock,  the 
first  missionaries  outside  the  immediate  apostolic  circle 
were  men  of  Africa. 

196.  Ethiopia,  from  the  days  of  the  Homeric  myth- 
ology till  now,  has  been  a  region  of  fascination  and 
mystery.  One  catching  glimpses  of  its  ancient  splen- 
dors appreciates  the  words  of  Purchas,  the  old  English 
compiler  of  the  "Relations  of  the  World."  After  giv- 
ing the  titles  of  the  King  of  Ethiopia  running  through 
several  lines,  he  says :  "Heere  are  names  enough  to 
skarre  a  weake  braine." 

The  ancient  capital  of  Ethiopia,  a  vast  and  indefinite 
region,  was  Meroe,  the  famous  island  in  the  upper  Nile. 

The  later  center  of  the  country,  so  far  as  the  history 
of  Christianity  is  concerned,  was  on  the  lofty  table- 
lands of  Abyssinia  which  lie  two  perpendicular  miles 
above  sea  level.  As  the  kingdom  of  Meroe  declined, 
the  seat  of  the  empire  ascended  to  the  highland  prov- 
ince, where  it  has  been  enthroned  ever  since.  Axum, 
the  capital,  was  a  great  city  in  the  early  Christian  cen- 
turies. But,  independently  of  tradition  and  custom, 
the  evidence  of  language  is  too  strong  to  be  questioned, 
showing  that  the  Abyssinians  are  of  Semitic  stock, 


I96  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

probably  from  Arabia,  the  land  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba. 
Whether  the  friendliness  to  Jeremiah  of  Ebed-Me- 
lech,  an  Ethiopian,  is  significant  or  not  as  to  the  rela- 
tions of  his  country  to  Judea,  is  doubtful.  But  the 
prophecy  of  Isaiah  is  full  of  promise: 

"Thus  saith  the  Lord,  The  labor  of  Egypt  and  the  merchand- 
ise of  Ethiopia,  and  the  Sabeans,  men  of  stature,  shall  come 
over  unto  thee  and  they  shall  be  thine ;  they  shall  go  after  thee ; 
in  chains  they  shall  come  over;  and  they  shall  fall  down  unto 
thee,  they  shall  make  supplication  unto  thee,  saying,  surely 
God  is  in  thee;  and  there  is  none  else,  there  is  no  (other) 
God." 

197.     It  is  known  that  for  hundreds  of  years  both 
before  and  after  Christ,  Ethiopia  was  ruled  by  a  line 
of  queens  whose  title  was  Candace.     About  the  year 
35  a  high  financial  officer  of  the  Candace  of  that  day, 
who  was  either  of  Hebrew  extraction  or  a  convert 
of  Jewish  missionary  effort,  was  riding  in  his  carriage 
on  a  Roman  road  in  southern  Syria  reading  a  manu- 
script of  Isaiah  as  he  rode.     The  prophet  who  made 
such  glowing  predictions  about  Ethiopia  may  well  have 
been  a   favorite   with   the   Israelites   of   that   region. 
There  came  running  to  him  a  Christian  missionary, 
whose  name  meant  Lover  of  Horses,  but  who,  like  many 
another  missionary,  was  on  foot.    The  courteous  cour- 
tier took  the  missionary  to  a  seat  beside  himself  in  the 
carriage  and  learned  a  deeper  meaning  in  Isaiah  than 
he  had  ever  been  able  to  divine  for  himself.     After 
some  miles  of  this  traveling  together  the  royal  officer 
begged  the  privilege  of  using  for  himself  the  emblem 
of  burial  with  Christ  and  resurrection  with  him  to  a 
new  life. 


EGYPT   AND   ABYSSINIA.  197 

The  record  takes  us  no  further,  but  that  must  have 
been  a  great  day  for  Ethiopia.  Let  the  imagination 
follow  Candace's  treasurer  home  to  the  lovely  island 
capital  on  the  upper  Nile  and  see  him  there  making 
known  and  spreading  abroad  the  wonderful  new  life 
which  he  had  found. 

198.  But  it  is  nearly  three  hundred  years  to  the  next 
record  of  missionary  history.  Two  young  men  from 
the  city  of  Tyre  were  on  a  voyage  with  their  uncle 
through  the  Red  Sea.  The  ship  touched  on  the  African 
coast  for  water.  The  barbarians  there,  who  had  lately 
thrown  off  the  Roman  yoke,  put  to  death  the  passengers 
and  crew,  but  were  touched  with  mercy  at  sight  of  the 
two  boys  whom  they  found  studying  their  lessons,  and 
took  them  alive  to  the  king  of  Abyssinia,  who  soon 
discovered  their  gifts  and  made  one  of  them  Frumen- 
tius, his  secretary  and  the  other,  Edessius,  a  cup-bearer. 
The  king  bequeathed  liberty  to  his  two  Tyrian  attend- 
ants, but  the  widowed  queen  persuaded  them  to  stay 
and  educate  the  heir  to  the  throne.  Frumentius,  find- 
ing himself  in  a  position  of  great  influence,  encouraged 
Roman  merchants  to  cultivate  Christianity  in  Abys- 
sinia. 

199.  When  their  royal  pupil  became  of  age  they 
resisted  all  entreaties  to  remain  longer  and  returned, 
Edessius  to  Tyre  to  visit  his  relatives,  but  Frumentius 
to  Alexandria,  to  tell  its  famous  pastor,  Athanasius, 
of  the  opening  for  missions  in  Abyssinia.  The  mighty 
champion  of  orthodoxy  had  interests  higher  than  the 
forming  of  creeds  and  was  quick  to  seize  the  oppor- 
tunity to  extend  the  kingdom  of  heaven.    He  cut  eccle- 


I98  TWO   THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

siastical  red  tape  and  exalted  this  stranger  at  once  to 
the  bishopric,  (338)  sending  him,  accompanied  by  help- 
ers, as  missionary  to  Abyssinia.  Athanasius  wisely  said, 
"What  other  man  shall  we  find  such  as  thou  art,  in 
whom  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  as  he  is  in  thee,  who  will 
be  able  to  discharge  these  duties  ?"  Frumentius  became 
known  as  the  Father  of  Peace,  and  through  his  agency 
Christianity  was  firmly  established  in  Abyssinia. 
There  it  has  stood  for  more  than  a  millen- 
nium and  a  half,  a  veritable  Gibraltar  in  the  midst  of 
great  seas  of  paganism  and  Mohammedanism. 

200.  There  are  confused  accounts  of  the  planting  of 
Christianity  in  Nubia  not  far  from  the  same  time,  but 
we  lack  accurate  history  for  the  details  of  the  work. 
We  know,  however,  that  Christianity  flourished  there 
from  the  fourth  to  the  twelfth  century.  The  King  of 
Dongola  did  not  become  a  Moslem  till  the  fourteenth 
century.  The  work  of  Islamising  Nubia  was  not  fully 
completed  till  the  sixteenth  century. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


NORTH  AND  WEST  AFRICA. 


201.  Characteristics  of  early  Christianity.  202.  Ter- 
tullian.  203.  Literary  activity.  204.  The  Donatists. 
205.  Western  version  of  the  Scriptures.  206.  Chris- 
tianity's opportunity.  207.  Islam's  success.  208. 
Franciscans  and  Dominicans  in  Africa.  209.  The  con- 
version of  Raymond  Lull.  210.  Lull's  intellectual  cru- 
sade. 211.  His  mission  to  North  Africa.  212.  His 
return  from  banishment.  213.  His  martyrdom.  214. 
The  evangelizing  of  the  Canary  Islands.  215.  Growth 
of  Christianity  there.  216.  Maritime  enterprise  and 
missions.  217.  Henry  the  Navigator.  218.  His  mis- 
sionary motive.  219.  The  dark  side  of  his  enterprises. 
220.  Diego  Gomez  in  West  Africa.  221.  John  II.  of 
Portugal  sends  a  missionary  expedition.  222.  Work  in 
Congo  land.  223.  Livingstone's  characterization  of 
Jesuit  work.  224.  Roman  Catholic  characterization  of 
the  same  work.  225.  French  and  Spanish  missions. 
226.  Moravian  efforts.  227.  English  and  Scotch  mis- 
sions. 228.  Jesuit  missions  in  East  Africa.  229. 
Madagascar. 

201.  Christianity  was  carried  very  early  and  very 
widely  into  North  Africa,  i.  e.,  the  part  of  Africa  of 
which  Carthage  was  the  center.  We  know  this  from 
the  fact  that  when  definite  accounts  begin,  only  one 
hundred  years  after  the  death  of  John  the  Evangelist, 
there  are  already  many  churches  with  multitudes  of 

199 


200  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

members  and  well  organized  ecclesiastical  life  in  every 
important  city  and  town.  Tertullian  says  as  early  as 
A.  D.  202  that  in  the  cities  of  Africa  the  Christians 
were  about  equal  in  number  to  the  pagans. 

The  propagation  of  Christianity  there  was  opposed 
with  extreme  violence  and  attended  for  a  long  time 
by  bloody  persecutions.  Twelve  Christians  at  Scellium 
(Cosreen)  are  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  lay  down 
their  lives  as  Christian  martyrs  in  North  Africa. 

Two  of  the  best  authenticated  martyrs  in  early 
Christian  history  are  Perpetua,  a  young  mother  of 
high  birth  whose  father  repeatedly  endeavored  to  per- 
suade her  to  recant,  and  Felicitas,  a  young  slave 
mother.  With  equal  devotion  high  and  low  together 
preferred  to  be  thrown  to  the  furious  beasts  of  the 
arena  rather  than  to  deny  Christ. 

202.  The  missions  in  North  Africa  were  distin- 
guished not  only  by  rapid  success  and  by  great  hero- 
ism but  also  by  intellectual  leadership.  The  first  great 
name  in  Western  Christendom  is  Tertullian.  He  was 
born  in  North  Africa  about  A.  D.  150.  He  was  edu- 
cated for  the  law.  At  forty  years  of  age  he  was 
converted  and  became  a  Christian  minister.  He  be- 
came, too,  an  advocate  of  the  more  spiritual  type  of 
Christianity,  insisting  on  the  presence  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  in  the  hearts  and  in  the  minds  of  his  people. 
Such  an  earnest  Christian  in  the  midst  of  heathenism 
was  sure  to  be  engaged  in  missionary  service.  Even 
before  he  was  ordained  he  wrote  an  advocacy  of  Chris- 
tianity, showing  its  great  superiority  to  paganism. 
In  it  he  expressed  a  thought  which    is    constantly 


NORTH    AND    WEST    AFRICA.  201 

repeated  to  this  day  as,  "The  blood  of  the  martyrs  is 
the  seed  of  the  church."  So  stated  it  is  a  misquota- 
tion in  form,  though  not  in  fact.  His  actual  words, 
appealing  to  the  Roman  rulers,  were :  "Go  zealously 
on,  good  presidents,  you  will  stand  higher  with  the 
people  if  you  sacrifice  the  Christians  at  their  wish,  kill 
us,  torture  us,  condemn  us,  grind  us  to  dust.  .  .  . 
Nor  does  your  cruelty,  however  exquisite,  avail  you ; 
.  .  .  the  oftener  we  are  mown  down  by  you,  the 
more  in  number  we  grow ;  the  blood  of  Christians  is 
seed." 

These  words  are  near  the  end  of  the  "Apol- 
ogy," almost  one  hundred  pages  of  vigorous,  earnest, 
fearless,  sometimes  racy,  always  luminous  and  stirring, 
words.  Of  the  forty  works  of  Tertullian  which  have 
come  down  to  us,  three  others  are  arguments  with  the 
heathen,  "On  Idolatry,"  "To  Scapula,"  and  "To  the 
Nations."    The  last  is  as  extensive  as  the  "Apology." 

203.  For  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  the  churches  in 
North  Africa  led  the  van  of  Latin  Christianity.  After 
the  most  formidable  opposition  in  her  history  old  Rome 
had  conquered  Carthage.  But  now  the  countrymen 
of  Hannibal  were  giving  law  to  Rome.  Tertullian 
was  followed  by  Cyprian,  Cyprian  by  Arnobius,  and 
Arnobius  by  Augustine.  The  missionary  writings  of 
Cyprian  were  "On  the  Vanity  of  Idols"  and  "A  Testi- 
mony against  the  Jews."  On  the  border  of  Numidia 
southwest  of  Carthage  was  the  town  of  Sicca  Veneria. 
It  was  distinctively  given  over  to  the  most  debasing 
forms  of  paganism.  There  Arnobius  was  a  popular 
teacher  of  rhetoric.    He  was  converted  to  Christianity 


202  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

and  wrote  "Against  the  Heathen,"  a  work  which 
makes  a  volume  of  364  pages  in  the  Anti-Nicene  Li- 
brary. We  need  not  be  surprised  to  find  this  teacher 
of  rhetoric  quoting  or  referring  to  69  different  writers 
of  classic  antiquity.  His  knowledge  of  Christianity 
was  somewhat  defective,  but  he  was  able  to  make  an 
elaborate  assault  on  paganism.  These  men  of  Africa 
were  the  chief  teachers  of  the  Roman  Church.  Augus- 
tine is,  in  fact,  still  counted  the  master  mind  of  all  oc- 
cidental Christianity.  Over  the  portals  of  Trinity 
Church,  in  Boston,  are  carved,  after  the  four  evangel- 
ists, Paul  and  Augustine.  A  third  stone  in  the  series 
remains  uncut.  There  is  no  man  yet  who  has  wielded 
so  wide  a  sceptre,  both  intellectual  and  ecclesiastical,  as 
Augustine,  bishop  of  the  provincial  town  of  Hippo  in 
North  Africa. 

204.  It  has  been  said  that  one  of  the  greatest  achieve- 
ments of  Augustine  was  breaking  the  supremacy  of  the 
Donatists.  They  were  the  Protestants  of  the  fourth 
and  succeeding  centuries  in  North  Africa.  They  were 
more  than  Protestants,  they  were  Puritans.  They 
were  more  than  Puritans,  they  were  Baptists.  None 
of  these  titles  apply  to  them,  perfectly,  of  course.  They 
fell  into  many  serious  blunders,  but  they  tenaciously 
held,  in  theory,  at  least,  to  a  converted  church  mem- 
bership. At  their  best  they  were  not  only  more  nu- 
merous and  influential,  but  also  more  Christian  than 
the  Romanists  there.  These  Donatists  became  the 
chief  missionary  force  of  North  Africa  working  in 
the  barbarian  borderlands  of  the   Roman  territory, 


NORTH    AND   WEST    AFRICA.  203 

often  with  great  success,  and  even  extending  their  mis- 
sions to  more  remote  regions. 

205.  One  of  the  marked  features  of  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  North  Africa  was  the  making  here  of  the  first 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  a  Western  tongue. 
This  old  Latin  version  was  the  foundation  of  Jerome's 
rendering  which  became  the  Vulgate,  i.  e.,  common 
version  of  Western  Christendom,  to  which  all  later 
translations,  till  very  recent  times,  were  religiously 
conformed.  The  ancient  and  passing  King  James  ver- 
sion in  English,  which  is  still  so  dear  to  many,  savors 
of  North  African  Latin  as  truly  as  it  does  of  the  orig- 
inal Hebrew  and  Greek. 

206.  In  the  height  of  Christianity's  glory  in  North- 
ern Africa  there  were  900  churches  of  Christ  in  that 
region.  Oh,  that  they  had  understood  their  calling! 
If,  instead  of  spending  their  chief  strength  in  the 
theological  and  ecclesiastical  arena,  they  had  turned 
their  magnificent  powers  to  the  evangelization  of  all 
Africa,  instead  of  being  still  "The  Dark  Continent,"  it 
might  have  become  the  most  luminous  portion  of  the 
whole  planet  a  thousand  years  ago.  A  favorite  text 
with  Augustine  was  "Go  out  and  compel  them  to 
come  in."  His  application  of  it  was  that  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  authorities  should  compel  heretical 
Christians  to  profess  orthodoxy.  If  he  had  only  used 
this  watchword  of  his  in  the  missionary  sense  in  which 
the  Master  gave  it  and  instead  of  looking  northward 
to  the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  yearned  southward  to  Af- 
rica's millions,  the  history  of  Christendom  might  have 
become  spiritual  instead  of  ecclesiastical,  and  the  Mo- 


204  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

hammedans  would  not  have  found  all  the  northern 
half  of  Africa  so  ripe  and  easy  a  prey  before  their 
overwhelming  onset. 

207.  Even  as  it  was  it  took  Islam  a  long  time  fully 
to  dispossess  Christianity  in  North  Africa.  Islam 
conquered  the  Barbary  States  politically  in  the  seventh 
century,  dogmatically  in  the  course  of  about  200  years 
after  that.  By  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century  Islam- 
ism  had  begun  to  spread  and  take  root  in  the  Soudan. 
By  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  all  the  Soudan 
was  under  Mohammedan  influence.  In  the  next  cen- 
tury it  became  well  established  in  Darfur,  the  last  of 
the  great  Soudan  States  to  receive  it.  In  Nubia  Islam 
superseded  Christianity  during  the  twelfth  to  the  four- 
teenth centuries.  The  king  of  Dongola  became  a  Mos- 
lem just  before  1350.  The  work  was  not  completed 
till  the  sixteenth  century.  It  took  Islam  nearly  eight 
hundred  years  completely  to  displace  Christianity  in 
North  Africa.  The  lost  ground  has  never  been  re- 
covered. 

208.  Early  in  the  thirteenth  century  Francis  of  As- 
sisi  sent  five  missionaries  to  Morocco.  Before  the  end 
of  the  century  two  hundred  of  these  missionaries  were 
martyred  at  the  hands  of  Moslems.  The  Dominicans, 
Brothers  Preachers,  as  they  call  themselves,  arose  at 
about  the  same  time  as  the  Franciscans.  Dominic  was 
exalted  in  later  days.  But  during  his  real  life  he  was 
not  a  great  personality.  Francis  in  his  actual  life  em- 
bodied the  apostolic  ideal  in  a  high  degree  and  was  the 
example  that  led  Dominic  to  adopt  the  missionary 


NORTH    AND    WEST    AFRICA.  205 

model  for  his  order.  Though  Francis  was  the  "Father 
of  the  Poor"  and  Dominic  the  "Hammer  of  Heretics," 
the  early  followers  of  the  latter  did  not  a  little  mission 
work  for  non-Christians,  too,  as  their  successors  have 
done  in  the  centuries  since.  They  founded  missionary 
training-schools  at  Murcia,  Spain,  and  Tunis,  Africa. 
They  gave  nearly  as  many  missionary  martyrs  to  mid- 
dle-age Africa  as  did  the  Franciscans,  all,  however, 
to  little  avail. 

209.  One  of  the  most  striking  of  the  futile  attempts 
to  reach  the  Moslems  with  the  gospel  was  that  of 
Raymond  Lull.  In  an  age  of  crusades  and  armed 
knights  his  was  the  knight-errantry  of  true  evangeliz- 
ing love.  His  father  had  helped  the  king  of  Spain 
to  drive  the  Moors  from  the  Balearic  Isles  off  the 
Spanish  coast  and  had  been  rewarded  with  lands  on 
the  island  of  Majorca.  To  that  estate  Raymond  was 
born  in  1234.  He  became  seneschal  of  the  island,  but 
lived  a  dissolute  life,  embroidered  with  a  dilettante  in- 
terest in  poetry.  At  the  age  of  thirty-two,  as  he  was 
writing  a  silly  love  song,  the  thought  of  the  crucified 
Christ  forced  itself  upon  his  mind.  His  passionate 
self-love  was  changed  into  holy  devotion  which  con- 
trolled the  remaining  forty-five  years  of  his  life.  The 
memory  of  Francis  of  Assisi  was  still  warm  in  the 
world  and  exerted  a  shaping  influence  on  the  aims  of 
Lull.  If  he  never  became  a  Franciscan,  he  worked 
as  a  layman  in  hearty  accord  with  the  purposes  of 
Francis. 

210.  At  last  he  secured  from  the  king  the  endow- 
ment of  a    Franciscan   monastery   in    Majorca   as   a 


206  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

missionary  training  school.  He  had  tried  to  secure 
from  popes  and  other  potentates  the  turning  of  all 
monasteries  into  that  work.  Meantime  he  bought  a 
Mohammedan  slave  and  spent  nine  years  in  learning 
Arabic  and  making  himself  familiar  with  Moslem 
literature.  He  also  developed  a  new  system  of  schol- 
astic learning  by  which  he  hoped  irresistibly  to  con- 
vince Mohammedans  and  other  unbelievers.  He  went 
about  again  and  again  through  Europe  awakening  an 
interest  in  this  intellectual  crusade.  His  writings  are 
said  to  have  numbered  more  than  one  thousand  articles. 
Scores  of  them  have  come  down  to  us  in  print  and 
many  still  unprinted  are  preserved  in  various  libraries. 
His  system  of  learning  seems  artificial  and  fanciful 
now,  but  he  secured  a  large  following  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Paris  and  in  other  places  where  he  gave  courses 
of  lectures.  The  Lullists  made  substantial  head  against 
the  skeptical  Arabic  philosophy  which  had  crept 
through  Christendom.  He  finally  secured  at  a  coun- 
cil held  in  Vienne,  France,  a  decree  that  chairs  of 
Arabic  and  other  oriental  languages  should  be  estab- 
lished at  Oxford,  Paris,  Salamanca  and  Rome  to  fit 
men  for  direct  missionary  work  among  Mohammedans 
and  other  non-Christians. 

211.  But  this  great  scholar  and  leader  of  thought 
was  not  contented  without  personally  undertaking  mis- 
sions to  the  Moslems  in  North  Africa.  He  had  a  ter- 
rible shrinking  from  the  perils  involved.  He  embarked 
at  Genoa  and  then  drew  back.  He  seems  to  have 
done  so  a  second  time,  returning  in  a  fever  of  fear 
and  shame.    But  at  last  he  got  away  with  a  calm  and 


NORTH    AND    WEST    AFRICA.  207 

brave  heart  which  dared  everything.  In  Tunis  he  se- 
cured a  conference  with  the  Moslem  scholars  and 
teachers  whom  he  hoped  to  convert  by  his  irrefrag- 
ible  logic  and  who  likewise  hoped  to  convert  him.  The 
inevitable  result  was  that  he  was  thrown  into  prison 
and  ordered  to  be  beheaded.  But  one  of  the  Moslem 
teachers,  out  of  respect  for  -Lull's  learning  and  sin- 
cerity, secured  the  commutation  of  the  sentence  to 
banishment  (1292). 

212.  After  returning  to  Majorca  he  sought  to  con- 
vert Mohammedans  and  Jews  there  and  later  went  on 
a  mission  to  Cyprus  and  even  to  distant  Armenia.  But 
his  heart  was  still  in  North  Africa,  though  he  was  for- 
bidden to  return  there  on  pain  of  being  stoned  to 
death.  But  go  he  would.  At  Bugia  he  openly  preached 
Christ  in  the  market  place.  He  was  cast  into  a  dun- 
geon, where  he  remained  six  months,  using  every  op- 
portunity to  persuade  the  Mohammedan  doctors  of 
divinity  to  exchange  arguments  with  him.  He  chal- 
lenged them  to  write  a  defence  of  their  faith.  They 
esteemed  him  as  a  sincere  fanatic  and  returned  him 
to  Europe.  He  suffered  shipwreck  on  the  way  and 
narrowly  escaped  drowning.  In  Genoa  he  secured  large 
contributions,  30,000  guilders,  to  equip  another  mis- 
sion to  North  Africa. 

213.  In  1314  he  landed  for  the  third  time  and  suc- 
ceeded in  restraining  his  zeal  sufficiently  to  do  a  quiet 
work  for  a  whole  year,  when  he  broke  forth  in  open 
denunciation  of  Mohammed,  and  was  stoned  to  death 
at  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  This  Majorcan  Span- 
iard may  have  been  somewhat  Quixotic,  but  he  was  a 


208  "  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

man  of  vast  learning  who  believed  in  rational  religion 
and  in  the  conversion  of  the  world,  not  by  force,  but 
by  persuasion.  Raymond  Lull  was  a  William  Carey 
five  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  world  was 
ready  to  understand  and  co-operate  with  him. 

214.  The  Canary  Islands  were  permanently  colon- 
ized at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  under 
the  leadership  of  a  baron  of  Normandy,  Jean  de  Bethen- 
coort.  The  conversion  of  the  natives  was  one  of  the 
leading  purposes  of  the  conquest  and  colonization,  nom- 
inally at  least.  Bethencourt  took  with  him  his  chap- 
lain Pierre  Bontier  and  a  Franciscan,  Jean  le  Verrier. 
In  due  time,  these  missionaries  were  able  to  write  "The 
Canarian,  a  book  of  the  Conquest  and  Conversion  of  the 
Canarians."  The  following  is  the  first  sentence  in 
their  preface: 

•"Inasmuch  as,  through  hearing  the  great  adventures,  bold 
deeds,  and  fair  exploits  of  those  who  in  former  times  under- 
took voyages  to  conquer  the  heathen  in  the  hope  of  convert- 
ing them  to  the  Christian  faith,  many  knights  have  taken 
heart  and  sought  to  imitate  them  in  their  good  deeds,  to  the 
end  that  by  eschewing  all  vice,  and  following  virtue,  they 
might  gain  everlasting  life ;  in  like  manner  did  Jean  de  Beth- 
encourt, knight,  born  in  the  kingdom  of  France,  undertake 
this  voyage,  for  the  honour  of  God  and  the  maintenance  and 
advancement  of  our  faith,  to  certain  islands  in  the  south  called 
the  Canary  Islands,  which  are  inhabited  by  unbelievers  of 
various  habits  and  languages." 

215.  In  1404  a  native  chief  and  his  family  were 
baptized. 

"After  this  all  in  the  island  (Lancerote)  came  one  by  one  to 
be  baptized,  both  small  and  great ;  and  therefore  an  instruction 
was  drawn  up  as  simple  as  possible  for  the  guidance  of  those 

10  were  already  baptized  and  for  the  preparation  of  those 
who  by  the  grace  of  God  should  afterward  receive  baptism." 


NORTH    AND    WEST    AFRICA.  209 

The  "Instruction"  which  they  drew  up  is  admirable 
for  the  time. 

The  next  year  two  other  chiefs  came  for  baptism, 
one  bringing  twenty-two  candidates  with  him,  the 
other  forty-seven. 

"From  that  time  forward  all  the  people  came  to  be  baptized; 
some  now,  some  then,  according  as  their  dwellings  might  hap- 
pen to  be  scattered  about  the  country.  .  .  They  are 
baptized  in  a  chapel  that  M.  de  Bethencourt  has  had  built ; 
and  they  mingle  with  his  people  and  share  all  their  comforts. 
The  said  Lord  de  Bethencourt  has  commanded  that  they  should 
be  treated  with  the  utmost  gentleness." 

The  founder  of  the  colony  further  showed  his  inter- 
est in  the  religions  welfare  of  the  islands  by  visiting 
the  Pope  and  securing  the  appointment  of  a  "Bishop 
of  all  the  Canary  Islands."  The  man  chosen  was 
Albert  de  las  Casas,     The  bishop 

"demeaned  himself  so  well,  so  graciously,  and  in  such  a  pleas- 
ant manner,  that  he  found  favor  with  all  the  people,  and  was 
the  cause  of  many  great  blessings  to  the  whole  country.  He 
preached  very  often,  now  in  one  island  and  now  in  another." 

216.  The  history  of  missions  in  West  Africa  intro- 
duces us  to  the  most  creditable  feature  in  the  great 
enterprises  of  the  age  of  maritime  discovery.  Along 
with  the  love  of  money  and  of  power  there  was  not 
only  a  praiseworthy  spirit  of  investigation,  but  a 
motive  deeper  still,  the  desire  to  extend  the  knowl- 
edge and  blessings  of  Christianity  to  the  pagan  world. 
To  Portugal  belongs  the  glory  of  leading  in  the  move- 
ment for  finding  the  lost  world. 

217.  Henry  the  Navigator  might  well  be  called  the 
Apostle  of  Discovery,  not  only  because  his  was  the 
great  pioneer  spirit   which   initiated   the  opening  of 


2IO  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

maritime  highways  to  four  continents — Africa,  Asia 
and  the  two  Americas — but  also  because  in  doing  it 
he  had  a  genuine  missionary  intention.  Though  an 
Infante,  i.  c,  royal  prince  of  Portugal,  he  withdrew 
from  political  life,  except  when  needed  as  a  crusader 
or  a  peacemaker,  and  devoted  his  princely  resources 
of  both  mind  and  fortune  to  scientific  study,  map-mak- 
ing and  exploration.  He  took  up  his  abode  on  that 
southwestern  point  of  Portugal  which  thrusts  itself 
well  out  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  built  there  an  astro- 
nomical observatory  and  dispatched  thence  his  cara- 
vels, the  best  craft  afloat,  singly  and  in  whole  fleets 
during  a  period  of  forty  years.  He  opened  pathways 
and  made  them  permanently  frequented  on  the  Atlantic 
westward  and  southward.  Men  commissioned  by  him 
rediscovered  the  Azores  and  colonized  them,  discov- 
ered the  Madeira,  the  Canary  and  the  Cape  Verde 
islands,  colonizing  the  two  former  groups,  and,  most 
important  of  all,  crept  down  the  African  coast  more 
than  1,300  miles  beyond  the  point  which  had  been 
believed  to  be  the  last  which  human  beings  could  pos- 
sibly reach.  It  was  the  impulse  of  Prince  Henry  which 
sent  his  countrymen  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
to  India.  The  son  of  Columbus  tells  us  that  "it  was 
in  Portugal"  that  his  father  began  to  think  that,  if 
men  could  sail  so  far  south,  one  might  also  sail  west 
and  find  lands  in  that  quarter." 

218.  The  old  chronicler  Azurara,  who  wrote  by  com- 
mand of  Henry  himself,  gives  five  reasons  for  the 
Prince's  earnestness  in  making  discoveries,  dwelling 
most  on  the  last. 


HENRY  THE   NAVIGATOR. 

(In  Mourning  Dress.) 


NORTH    AND    WEST    AFRICA.  211 

"The  fifth  reason  was  his  great  desire  to  make  increase  in 
the  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  to  bring  to  him  all  the 
souls  that  should  be  saved, — understanding  that  all  the  mystery 
of  the  Incarnation,  Death  and  Passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
was  for  this  sole  end — namely  the  salvation  of  lost  souls — 
whom  the  said  Lord  Infant  by  his  travail  and  spending  would 
fain  bring  into  the  true  path." 

219.  It  is  true  that  Henry's  men  kidnapped  the 
natives  of  West  Africa,  inaugurating  the  long  and 
terrible  ages  of  slave-raiding  on  that  coast.  We  see 
the  crime  as  no  man  perceived  it  in  those  days  or 
for  many  a  day  after.  But,  however  greed  ruled  the 
conduct  of  the  sea-rovers  who  did  the  work,  there  is 
no  doubt  that  Henry  himself  and  many  others  were 
sincere  in  their  belief  that  they  were  doing  God  and 
man  a  service  in  bringing  the  heathen  to  Christendom. 
It  is  said  that  they  were  generally  well  treated,  fre- 
quently as  if  members  of  the  families  in  which  they 
lived.  Most  of  them  were  brought  into  the  church. 
Azurara's  chronicle  says  near  the  end : 

"At  the  commencement  of  this  book  I  assigned  five  reasons 
by  which  our  high-souled  Prince  was  moved  to  send  his  ships 
so  often  in  the  toil  of  this  Conquest,  and  because  me  seemeth  I 
have  given  you  a  plentiful  understanding  of  the  first  four, 
it  remaineth  for  me  to  tell  you  of  the  fifth  reason, 
and  to  fix  the  certain  number  of  the  souls  of  infidels  who  have 
come  from  those  lands  to  this,  through  the  virtue  and  talents 
of  our  glorious  Prince.  And  I  counted  these  souls  and  found 
they  were  nine  hundred  twenty  and  seven,  of  whom,  as  I  have 
said  before,  the  greater  part  were  turned  into  the  true  path  of 
salvation." 

220.  The  first  glimpse  of  actual  mission  work  in 
West  Africa  itself  shows  that  Islam  had  reached  the 
Cape   Verde   region    more   than    four   hundred    years 


212  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

ago.  It  is  the  account  of  Diego  Gomez,  one  of  Prince 
Henry's  explorers. 

"There  was  a  Bishop  there  of  his  [the  local  chief's]  own 
faith  who  asked  me  about  the  God  of  the  Christians,  and  I 
answered  him  as  God  had  given  me  to  know ;  and  then  I 
questioned  him  about  Mahomet,  whom  they  believe.  At  last 
the  King  was  so  pleased  with  what  I  said  that  he  sprang  to  his 
feet  and  ordered  the  Bishop  to  leave  his  country  within  three 
days,  and  swore  that  he  would  kill  any  one  who  should  speak 
the  name  of  Mahomet  from  that  day  forward.  For  he  said 
he  trusted  in  the  one  only  God  and  there  was  no  other  but  He, 
whom  his  brother  Prince  Henry  worshiped. 

"Then  calling  the  Infante,  his  brother,  he  asked  me  to  bap- 
tize him  and  all  his  lords  and  women.  He  himself  would  have 
no  other  name  than  Henry,  but  his  nobles  took  our  names, 
like  James  and  Nuno.  So  I  remained  on  shore  that  night  with 
the  King,  but  did  not  baptize  him,  as  I  was  a  layman. 

"Then  again  on  shore  the  King  asked  me  to  baptize  him  but 
I  said  I  had  not  leave  from  the  Pope ;  but  I  would  tell  the 
Prince,  who  would  send  a  priest.  So  Nomimansa  at  once 
wrote  to  Prince  Henry  to  send  him  a  priest  and  some  one  to 
teach  him  the  faith,  and  begged  him  to  send  him  a  falcon 
with  the  priest,  for  he  was  amazed  when  I  told  him  how  we 
carried  a  bird  on  the  hand  to  catch  other  birds." 

221.  In  1482  an  expedition  sent  by  John  II  of  Por- 
tugal landed  at  Mina  on  the  Gold  coast.  The  squad- 
ron of  ten  vessels  carried  materials,  even  stones  and 
tiles,  for  building  a  fort  and  a  church.  Besides  soldiers 
it  brought  a  good  complement  of  missionaries  and  two 
hundred  workmen  for  building  the  fort  and  church. 
The  young  king  had  many  discouragements  presented 
to  his  attention  by  those  opposed  to  his  project.  But 
•he  said  :  "If  one  African  be  thus  converted  to  the 
faith,  the  threatening  obstacles  will  easily  be  sur- 
mounted." 


NORTH    AND   WEST   AFRICA.  213 

222.  In  1484  Diego  Cam  entered  the  mouth  of  the 
Congo.  He  sent  some  of  his  men  into  the  interior  to 
find  the  king  of  the  country  and  took  four  of  the 
natives  to  Portugal.  King  John  received  the  Africans 
with  joy  and  sent  them  back,  as  Diego  had  promised, 
at  the  end  of  fifteen  months,  loaded  with  presents  to 
their  king  and  taking  him  an  earnest  request  that  he 
and  his  people  would  become  Christians.  On  this  trip 
Diego  himself  visited  the  Congo  king  and  had  the 
pleasure  of  taking  to  Portugal  Cazuta,  one  of  the  chief 
men,  as  an  ambassador,  with  the  request  that  Cazuta 
and  his  attendants  be  instructed  in  Christianity  and 
baptized  and  that  missionaries  be  sent  for  the  conver- 
sion of  all  the  Congoese.  After  two  years  of  instruc- 
tion Cazuta  and  his  suite  were  baptized,  the  King  and 
Queen  of  Portugal  standing  as  sponsors.  In  1490  a 
large  company  of  missionaries  from  Portugal  accom- 
panied Cazuta  home.  The  King  of  Congo  and  his 
head  men  were  soon  all  baptized  along  with  multitudes 
of  the  people.  But  the  missionaries  insisted  that  a  Chris- 
tian man  could  be  the  husband  of  one  wife  only.  The 
old  African  king  thoroughly  repudiated  such  new- 
fangled notions  curtailing  his  most  cherished  rights, 
and  the  people  were  mostly  with  the  king.  But  he  died 
soon  after,  and  the  Portuguese  succeeded  after  hard 
fighting  in  establishing  the  heir  Alfonso,  who  was  dis- 
posed to  adhere  to  the  Christian  teaching,  as  the  ruler 
of  the  country. 

From  Congo  Christianity  was  carried  into  many 
neighboring  countries,  such  as  Sundia,  Pango,  Conco- 
bella  and  Maopongo.  The  Negroes  were  charmed  with 


214  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

the  gorgeous  pageantry  which  was  a  part  of  Chris- 
tanity  as  presented  by  the  Capuchins,  but  they  rebelled 
constantly  against  the  moral  requirements. 

223.  Different  religious  orders  worked  in  West 
Africa  first  and  last.  The  Company  of  Jesus  was  per- 
haps the  most  efficient.  David  Livingstone,  with  char- 
acteristic breadth  of  view,  gives  them  credit  for  greater 
permanency  of  results  than  is  commonly  conceded. 
He  says,  in  substance : 

"In  Africa  the  Jesuits  were  wiser  in  their  generation  than 
Protestants.  Theirs  were  large,  influential  communities,  pro- 
ceeding on  the  system  of  turning  the  abilities  of  every  brother 
into  the  channel  in  which  he  was  most  likely  to  excel.  One 
fond  of  natural  history  was  allowed  to  follow  his  bent.  An- 
other fond  of  literature  found  leisure  to  pursue  his  studies. 
He  who  was  great  in  barter  was  sent  in  search  of  gold-dust 
and  ivory.  While  performing  the  religious  acts  of  his  mission 
to  distant  tribes,  he  found  the  means  of  aiding  effectually  the 
brethren  whom  he  had  left  in  the  central  settlement." 

In  another  place,  Livingstone  uses  the  following 
language : 

"It  is  now  [1854]  quite  astonishing  to  observe  the  great  num- 
bers who  can  read  and  write  in  this  district.  This  is  the  fruit 
of  the  labors  of  Jesuit  and  Capuchin  missionaries,  for  they 
taught  the  people  of  Ambaca ;  and  ever  since  the  expulsion  of 
the  teachers  by  the  Marquis  of  Pombal  (1759)  the  natives 
have  continued  to  teach  each  other.  These  devoted  men  are 
still  held  in  high  estimation  throughout  the  country  to  this  day. 
All  speak  well  of  them  (as  padres  Jesuitas)  ;  and,  now  that 
they  are  gone  from  this  lower  sphere,  I  could  not  help  wishing 
that  these  our  Roman  Catholic  fellow  Christians  had  felt  it  to 
be  their  duty  to  give  the  people  the  Bible,  to  be  a  light  to 
their  feet  when  the  good  men  themselves  were  gone." 

224.  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  themselves  have 
pointed  out  the  weaknesses  and  failures  of  the  work 


NORTH    AND    WEST    AFRICA.  215 

in  unequivocal  terms.     Two  of  them  are  quoted  by 
F.  P.  Noble  as  follows.    Bsesten,  a  Jesuit  of  Belgium, 

says : 

"The  first  conversions  0491-1549)  were  too  precipitate. 
Insufficient  account  was  taken  of  the  difficulties  against  the 
lasting  and  sincere  practice  of  Christianity." 

One  hundred  years  ago  a  Capuchin  by  the  name  of 

Zuccelli  wrote : 

"Assuredly  the  misery  is  great !  Here  is  neither  honor  nor 
reputation,  knowledge  or  conscience,  faith  nor  word  of  God, 
state  nor  family,  government  nor  civilization,  discipline  nor 
shame,  polity  nor  righteousness,  fear  of  God  nor  zeal  for  souls. 
Great  as  are  the  sins,  scandals  and  vices  this  people  commit 
every  moment,  you  can  never  bring  them  to  shame.  You  can 
say  nothing  of  them  except  that  they  are  but  baptized  heathen, 
who  have  nothing  of  Christianity  save  the  bare  name  without 
works.  Utter  ruin  impends  over  the  land,  the  people,  the 
mission.  There  is  no  wisdom,  reason,  policy,  counsel ;  none 
troubles  himself  about  the  common  weal.  Civil  wars,  enmity, 
murder,  robbery,  superstition,  devilish  arts,  incest  and  adult- 
ery are  the  people's  and  the  prince's  virtues.  Deceit  is  in  full 
vogue.  As  there  is  no  fortified  place  of  refuge,  men  hide 
themselves  in  the  wilderness." 

225.  The  French  as  well  as  the  Portuguese  sent 
missionaries  to  the  West  Coast.  In  1635  five  Fran- 
ciscans were  sent  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ossinece.  Other 
bands  of  missionaries  followed  them.  In  1701  Father 
Loyer  was  sent  by  the  Pope  as  an  Apostolic  Prefect. 
He  took  with  him  a  native  who  had  been  educated  in 
France  and  baptized  with  great  hopes,  the  King  of 
France  standing  as  godfather.  But  the  convert  proved 
faithless  and  the  mission  nearly  fruitless. 

The  Spanish  followed  the  Portuguese  and  French 
in  missionary  endeavor  on  the  West  Coast.    In  1652 


2l6  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

fifteen  Capuchins  were  sent  to  Sierra  Leone.  They 
were  reinforced  from  time  .to  time  and  made  converts 
and  built  churches. 

226.  In  1737  Moravians  sought  to  establish  a  mis- 
sion in  Guinea.  Five  times  they  sent  reinforcements, 
eleven  missionaries  in  all,  but  all  perished  on  the  mala- 
rious field  before  they  could  get  a  foothold. 

227.  The  missionary  efforts  of  the  English  in  West 
Africa  before  1800  were  not  great.  In  1751  a  mis- 
sionary of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith, 
Thomas  Thompson,  having  labored  five  years  in  New 
Jersey,  went  to  Cape  Coast  Castle  on  the  Gold  coast 
"for  the  sole  purpose  of  converting  the  Negroes  to 
Christianity."  He  remained  only  three  years  and  bap- 
tized nine  adult  Negroes.  But  he  failed  to  learn  the 
language,  and  his  quaint  account  does  not  leave  a 
very  happy  impression  as  to  his  real  missionary  zeal. 
But  he  sent  three  natives  to  England  to  be  educated. 
One  of  them,  Philip  Quaque,  was  ordained  in  1765 
and  served  as  chaplain  of  the  fort  at  Cape  Coast  Castle 
for  more  than  fifty  years. 

In  1797  the  Scotch  Missionary  Societies  sent  men 
thither.  Guinea  was  a  fatal  field  to  all  alike — Portu- 
guese, French,  Spanish,  Moravians,  English,  Scotch. 

228.  The  Portuguese  entered  Africa  from  the  East 
Coast  also  and  the  Jesuits  prosecuted  missions  from 
that  side  far  into  the  interior.  The  most  appreciative 
account  of  their  work  in  the  East  as  well  as  in  the 
West  is  that  of  David  Livingstone : 

"Indeed,  missionaries  of  that  body  of  Christians  [Roman 
Catholic]  established  themselves  in  a  vast  number  of  places  in 


NORTH    AND    WEST    AFRICA.  217 

Eastern  Africa,  as  the  ruins  of  mission  stations  still  testify; 
but  not  having  succeeded  in  meeting  with  any  reliable  history 
of  the  labors  of  these  good  men,  it  is  painful  for  me  to  be  un- 
able to  contradict  the  calumnies  which  Portuguese  writers 
still  heap  on  their  memory.  So  far  as  the  impression  left  on 
the  native  mind  goes,  it  is  decidedly  favorable  to  their  zeal  and 
piety,  while  the  writers  referred  to  roundly  assert  that  the 
missionaries  engaged  in  the  slave  trade,  which  is  probably  as 
false  as  the  more  modern  scandals  occasionally  retailed  against 
their  Protestant  brethren.  Philanthropists  sometimes  err  in 
accepting  the  mere  gossip  of  coast  villages  as  facts,  when  assert- 
ing the  atrocities  of  our  countrymen  abroad  while  others,  pre- 
tending to  regard  all  philanthropy  as  weakness,  yet  practicing 
that  silliest  of  hypocrisies— the  endeavor  to  appear  worse  than 
they  are— accept  and  publish  the  mere  brandy-and-water 
twaddle  of  immoral  traders  against  a  body  of  men  who,  as  a 
whole,  are  an  honor  to  human  kind.  .  .  .  We  can- 
not believe  that  these  good  men  would  risk  their  lives  for  the 
unholy  gains  which,  even  were  they  lawful,  by  the  rules  of 
their  order  they  could  not  enjoy;  but  it  would  be  extremely 
interesting  to  all  their  successors  to  know  exactly  what  were 
the  real  causes  of  their  failure  in  perpetuating  the  faith." 

229.  The  Portuguese  made  some  attempt  to  intro- 
duce Christianity  in  Madagascar  early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  but  with  no  permanent  result.  Near 
the  middle  of  that  century  French  missionaries  worked 
for  some  twenty  years  about  Fort  Dauphine.  But 
they  undertook  to  compel  adhesion  to  Christianity  by 
force.  They  were  driven  out  of  the  country  by  the 
natives  and  their  work  disappeared. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SOUTH  AFRICA. 

230.  Dutch  rule  in  southern  Africa.  231.  The  first 
governor's  attitude  toward  the  natives.  232.  The  de- 
struction of  Bosjesmen.  233.  '"Hottentots  not  admitted." 
234.  Formalities  of  religion.  235.  Baptismal  emancipa- 
tion. 236.  School  regulations.  237.  Appeal  to  the 
Moravians.  238.  George  Schmidt.  239.  His  recep- 
tion in  Cape  Town.  240.  Baboon  Glen.  241.  Boer  re- 
sentment. 242.  Late  success.  243.  Value  of  study  of 
anti-missions. 

230.  Nineteenth  century  missions  in  Africa  have 
had  some  brilliant  successes.  But  the  story  of  mis- 
sions on  that  continent  before  1800  is  a  sad  one.  In 
northern  Africa  it  is  a  story  of  great  achievements 
and  great  reversions.  In  western  Africa  it  is  a  story 
of  splendid  but  foiled  intentions  and  endeavors.  In 
southern  Africa  the  story  of  missions  is  chiefly  a  story 
of  anti-missions. 

In  their  150  years  of  undisputed  opportunity  the 
Portuguese  attained  no  permanent  colonies  or  missions 
in  southern  Africa.  The  English  took  possession  of 
that  part  of  the  world  just  at  the  close  of  our  period. 
A  century  and  a  half  previous  to  the  English  occupa- 
tion the  Dutch  held  sway  there,  beginning  in  1652. 
218 


SOUTH    AFRICA.  210, 

By  every  right  of  humanity  and  of  creed  it  ought  to 
have  been  a  century  and  a  half  of  earnest  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  natives.  Instead  of  that,  it  was  a  century 
and  a  half  of  nearly  unmitigated  barbarism  toward 
them.  The  early  Roman  Catholic  misrepresentatives 
of  Henry  the  Navigator  in  West  Africa,  and  the  mod- 
ern Mohammedan  slave  raiders  in  East  Africa,  have 
neither  of  them  surpassed  the  Dutch  Calvinists  of 
South  Africa  in  brutal  inhumanity.  They  hunted  the 
natives  down  like  wild  beasts,  organizing  annual  raids 
upon  them  called  "commandoes."  In  1774  the  Colo- 
nial Government  gave  orders  that  the  whole  race  of 
Bushmen  not  yet  destroyed  or  enslaved  be  at  once 
reduced  to  slavery  or  exterminated. 

231.  This  was  near  the  end  of  Dutch  rule,  as  well 
it  might  be.  But  listen  to  the  cold-blooded  statements 
of  the  first  governor,  Jan  van  Riebeck,  which  show 
not  only  the  hardness  of  his  heart  but  also  the  great 
prosperity  of  the  unsuspecting  natives  when  the  long 
process  of  extermination  began,  unprovoked  except 
by  greed.  This  part  of  his  journal  is  dated  December, 
1652,  according  to  Dr.  A.  C.  Thompson's  extract: 

"The  Hottentots  came,  with  thousands  of  cattle  and  sheep, 
close  to  our  fort,  but  we  could  not  succeed  in  traffic  with  them. 
We  feel  vexed  to  see  so  many  fine  herds  of  cattle,  and  not  to 
be  able  to  buy  to  any  considerable  extent.  If  it  had  been 
indeed  allowed,  we  had  opportunity  enough  to  deprive  them 
today  of  ten  thousand  head ;  which,  however,  if  we  obtain  ord- 
ers to  that  effect,  can  be  done  at  any  time,  and  even  more  con- 
veniently, because  they  will  by  that  time  have  greater  confi- 
dence in  us.  With  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  eleven  thousand 
1  of  black  cattle  might  be  obtained  without  danger  of  losing 
one  man;  and  many  savages  might  be  taken  without  resistance, 


220  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

in  order  to  be  sent  as  slaves  to  India,  as  they  will  always  come 
to  us  unarmed.  If  no  further  trade  is  to  be  expected  with 
them,  what  should  it  matter  much  to  take  at  once  six  or  eight 
thousand  beasts  from  them?  There  is  opportunity  enough  for 
it,  as  they  are  not  strong  in  number,  and  very  timid,  and  since 
not  more  than  two  or  three  men  often  graze  a  thousand  cattle 
close  to  our  cannons,  who  might  be  easily  cut  off." 

232.  The  raids  proposed  at  the  outset  with  such  cold 
heartlessness  were  of  frequent  occurrence  in  later 
years.  Almost  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  later 
Thomas  Pringle,  an  eyewitness,  describes  one  of  them 
as  follows : 

"I  still  shudder  when  I  think  of  one  of  the  first  scenes  of 
the  kind  which  I  was  obliged  to  witness  in  my  youth,  when  I 
commenced  my  burgher  service.  It  was  upon  a  commando 
under  Carl  Kortz.  We  had  surprised  and  destroyed  a  con- 
siderable kraal  of  Bosjesmen.  When  the  firing  ceased,  five 
women  were  still  found  living.  The  lives  of  these,  after  a 
long  discussion,  it  was  ordered  to  spare,  because  one  farmer 
wanted  a  servant  for  this  purpose,  and  another  for  that.  The 
unfortunate  wretches  were  ordered  to  march  in  front  of  the 
commando ;  but  it  was  soon  found  that  they  impeded  our  pro- 
gress, not  being  able  to  proceed  fast  enough.  They  were 
therefore  ordered  to  be  shot.  The  scene  which  ensued  often 
haunts  me  up  to  the  present  hour.  The  helpless  victims,  see- 
ing what  was  intended,  sprang  to  us,  and  clung  so  firmly  to 
some  of  the  party  that  it  was  for  some  time  impossible  to  shoot 
them  without  hazarding  the  lives  of  those  they  held  fast.  Four 
of  them  were  at  length  despatched,  but  the  fifth  could  by  no 
means  be  torn  from  one  of  our  comrades,  whom  she  had 
grasped  in  her  agony ;  and  his  entreaties  to  be  allowed  to  take 
the  woman  home  were  at  last  complied  with.  She  went  with 
her  preserver,  served  him  long  and  faithfully,  and,  I  believe, 
died  in  the  family.     May  God  forgive  the  land !" 

233-  With  such  an  attitude  toward  the  natives  pre- 
vailing from  first  to  last,  it  is  not  surprising  that  over 


SOUTH   AFRICA.  221 

the  door  of  at  least  one  of  the  Dutch  churches  should 
have  been  the  notice,  "Dogs  and  Hottentots  not  admit- 
ted."   This  is  anti-missions  consistently  carried  out. 

But  we  must  not  be  unfair  to  the  Dutch  in  South 
Africa.  They  are  not  the  only  people  known  to  his- 
tory who  have  been  keen  in  theology  and  punctual  in 
ritual,  while  at  the  same  time  blind  in  sociology  and 
wicked  in  political  and  industrial  relations.  We  must 
credit  them  with  being  honest  men  and  sincere  Chris- 
tians according  to  their  stage  of  development.  The 
most  enlightened  communities  even  yet  are  not  far 
enough  in  advance  of  them  to  be  unable  to  understand 
their  attitude  toward  peoples  counted  inferior.  There 
are  said  to  be  church  doors  over  which  is  the  notice — 
in  hieroglyphics  distinctly  read  by  the  people — "Social 
Hottentots  not  wanted  here."  There  are  many  unmis- 
sionary  Boers  in  various  places. 

234.  When  the  Dutch  took  possession  of  the  Cape 
they  expressed  the  pious  hope  that  "their  rule  might 
tend  to  uphold  righteousness  and  plant  teaching  among 
the  wild  and  savage  natives  of  the  country." 

They  took  the  pains  from  the  start  to  have  a  careful 
observance  of  formal  religion  in  their  colony.  Before 
the  colony  was  counted  large  enough  to  have  an 
ordained  chaplain,  it  had  a  minister  of  lower  ecclesias- 
tical rank  called  "Comforter  of  the  Sick."  He  was  to 
read  sermons  on  Sunday.  One  of  the  first  ventured 
to  offer  some  remarks  of  his  own.  He  was  severely 
called  to  order  by  the  authorities  through  ecclesiastical 
headquarters  in  the  East  Indies,  then  in  the  Nether- 
lands.   The  first  white  child  born  at  the  Cape  of  Good 


222  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Hope  was  a  son  of  the  "Comforter."  But  there 
appears  to  have  been  no  thought  of  providing  any 
comfort  for  the  natives.  They  were  counted  merely 
as  the  heathen  in  the  land  to  be  dispossessed.  These 
Dutchmen  were  as  sound  in  their  Calvinism  and  as 
pious  in  their  everyday  phraseology  as  were  the  Puri- 
tans of  the  same  period  in  America.  But  they  had 
no  Roger  Williams  to  seek  the  conversion  and  welfare 
of  the  natives. 

235.  This  much,  however,  is  true  of  them ;  if  one 
of  the  blacks  professed  Christianity  he  was  immedi- 
ately freed  and  was  treated  in  many  respects  as  if 
white.  The  line  of  mere  color  was  not  deeply  drawn 
in  those  days.  For  instance,  a  Bengalese  slave  girl 
of  Admiral  Bogaert,  having  been  baptized  and  liber- 
ated, was  spoken  of  in  the  same  terms  as  the  admiral's 
own  niece,  "de  eerbare  jonge  dochter."  In  the  first 
sixty-six  years  of  the  colony  46  adult  slaves  and 
1,121  slave  children  were  baptized.  But  the  law  of 
baptismal  emancipation  was  bitterly  opposed  and 
finally  repealed.  Ten  leading  South  African  Dutch 
clergymen  in  a  document  published  for  the  English- 
speaking  world  in  1900  say  that  the  law  was  repealed 
"on  account  of  the  abuses  to  which  it  led."  But  they 
refrain  from  telling  what  they  mean  by  "abuses." 

236.  In  another  direction,  however,  these  gentlemen 
by  acquainting  themselves  with  all  the  missionary  facts 
in  the  early  history  of  their  church  might  have  made 
a  better  showing  than  they  did.  It  is  to  the  missionary 
credit  of  the  early  Dutch  at  the  Cape  that  their  very 
first  school  was  opened  for  the  teaching  of  slave  chil- 


SOUTH    AFRICA.  223 

dren,  imported  from  the  West  Coast,  to  say  prayers 
and  to  repeat  the  Heidelberg  catechism.  Peter  Van  der 
Stall  was  the  teacher.  It  was  soon  closed  in  connec- 
tion with  the  great  dispute  about  the  baptism  of  the 
children  of  slaves.  But  not  long  after  a  school  was 
opened  for  the  children  of  the  colonists,  with  a  tuition 
of  two  shillings  a  month,  but  to  slave  and  Hottentot 
children  the  schooling  was  free,  "for  God,"  as  the 
regulations  stated.  The  school  began  with  seventeen 
pupils,  four  of  them  being  slave  children  and  one  a 
Hottentot.  Eva,  a  slave  girl,  brought  up  in  the  gover- 
nor's house,  was  baptized.  After  a  time  she  married  a 
surgeon  and  explorer  of  the  company.  But  later  she 
proved  to  be  very  immoral.  Experiences  with  this 
first  convert  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  form- 
ing the  missionary  views  and  policy  of  the  Dutch  in 
South  Africa. 

237.  The  slight  missionary  tendency  of  the  early 
days  seems  to  have  ceased  by  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  for  when  the  Danish  pioneer  mission- 
aries in  India,  Ziegenbalg  and  Pliitschau,  stopped  at 
the  Cape  on  their  way  out  in  1706,  they  found  that  the 
Boers  did  not  permit  their  slaves  to  be  baptized.  The 
account  sent  to  Europe  by  these  men  and  other  infor- 
mation as  to  the  condition  of  the  natives  in  South 
Africa  at  last  stirred  the  conscience  of  devout  men 
in  Holland  sufficiently  to  lead  to  their  writing  a  letter 
about  it  to  the  young  church  of  Moravian  refugees  in 
Saxony,  who  had  four  years  before  sent  to  the  West 
Indies  their  first  missionaries. 

238.  But  seven  days  after  the  arrival  of  this  appeal 


224  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

at  Herrnhlit,  George  Schmidt  started  for  Holland  on 
his  way  to  South  Africa.  It  took  the  Dutch  more 
than  one  hundred  years  to  ask  some  one  else  to  go. 
It  took  the  Moravians  less  than  a  week  actually  to 
start.  The  Dutch  East  India  Company  in  Amsterdam 
appointed  clergymen  to  examine  Schmidt.  They  tried 
to  convince  him  that  it  was  dangerous  and  foolish  to 
go.  They  said  to  him :  "The  language  of  the  Hotten- 
tots is  extremely  difficult.  They  have  nothing  but 
wild  roots  to  feed  upon.  What  do  you  think  of  that?" 
His  answer  was :  "With  God  all  things  are  possible ; 
and  as  I  have  assurance  that  it  is  the  will  of  God 
I  should  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Hottentots,  so  I 
hope  firmly  in  him  that  he  will  carry  me  through  the 
greatest  difficulties. "  It  was  a  whole  year  before 
Schmidt  could  get  passage  from  Holland  to  the  Cape. 
While  he  waited  he  supported  himself  as  a  common 
laborer.  His  book  education  was  very  limited,  but  he 
had  already  at  twenty-seven  years  of  age  had  six. years 
of  spiritual  discipline  by  imprisonment  for  the  sake  of 
the  gospel  in  Bohemia.  On  the  voyage  to  South  Africa 
he  was  able  to  lead  three  ungodly  passengers  to  Christ. 
239.  On  reaching  Cape  Town  in  1737  the  Moravian 
was  received  with  contempt  and  derision  by  the  colo- 
nists. But  he  found  two  natives  who  lived  some  fifty 
miles  away,  one  of  them  speaking  Dutch,  who  con- 
ducted him  to  their  kraal.  There  he  built  himself 
a  hut  and  laid  out  a  garden.  Schmidt,  like  Xavier, 
never  learned  the  language  of  the  people  of  his  mis- 
sion. The  Hottentot  language  in  addition  to  the  ordi- 
nary  sounds  of  human  speech    has    many  different 


SOUTH    AFRICA.  225 

"clicks,"  some  of  them  like  the  sound  which  we  fre- 
quently make  in  driving  a  horse.  But  he  taught  them 
through  an  interpreter.  His  earnestness  soon  won  to 
Christ  a  Dutch  corporal  stationed  near.  Some  other 
colonists  were  converted. 

240.  His  Boer  neighbors  in  general  were  so  hostile 
to  him  that  they  procured  his  removal  to  a  wild  spot 
ten  miles  beyond  their  frontier  farms.  In  this  place, 
called  Bavianskloof,  i,  e.,  Baboon  Glen,  he  so  quickly 
built  a  new  hut  and  planted  a  garden  that  the  natives 
were  impressed  by  the  lesson  of  industry.  Eighteen 
Hottentots  had  followed  him  and  others  soon  gath- 
ered about,  so  that  he  had  a  school  of  fifty  to  whom 
he  taught  the  Dutch  language  and  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. After  three  years  his  first  convert  from  the 
heathen  was  baptized. 

241.  When  the  news  reached  Cape  Town  that  Hot- 
tentots were  being  treated  as  men  and  even  as  Chris- 
tians the  authorities  were  fully  aroused.  This  was 
more  than  the  Boers  would  endure.  Some  of  the  con- 
verts were  sent  for  and  were  examined  by  the  clergy- 
man of  the  town.  He  found  them  able  to  read  and 
to  give  an  intelligent  account  of  their  faith.  To  his 
great  credit,  in  view  of  the  prevailing  public  sentiment, 
he  expressed  his  satisfaction  and  his  approval  of  the 
work.  But  the  authorities  were  determined,  and 
Schmidt  was  sent  back  to  Europe.  But  he  never  gave 
up  the  hope  of  returning.  He  lived  for  forty-one 
years,  praying  daily  for  Africa.  He  was  an  evangel- 
ist, but  most  of  the  time  a  day-laborer.  After  attend- 
ing church  one  Sunday  when  he  was  seventy-six  years 


226  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

old  he  went  home,  rose  Monday  morning,  worked  in 
his  garden,  then  went  in  and  knelt  down  to  pray  for 
Africa.  In  that  attitude  the  Lord  took  him  home  as 
he  took  Livingstone  long  after. 

242.  George  Schmidt,  the  first  missionary  to  South 
Africa,  in  his  six  years  there  had  the  privilege  of  bap- 
tizing only  seven  natives.  But  fifty  years  later,  when 
the  Moravians  were  permitted  to  resume  the  mission, 
people  were  found  who  turned  eagerly  to  the  mission- 
aries because  their  fathers  had  told  them  to  follow 
the  good  men  who  would  come  to  teach  them  the  nar- 
row way.  One  woman  whom  Schmidt  had  baptized 
by  the  name  of  Magdalena,  now  eighty  years  of  age 
and  nearly  blind,  came  bringing  a  Dutch  New  Testa- 
ment which  he  had  given  her  and  which  she  was  care- 
fully preserving  wrapped  in  two  sheepskins.  Seven 
converts  were  now  baptized  the  first  year.  For  five 
years  their  place  of  worship  was  under  a  great  pear 
tree  which  had  been  planted  by  George  Schmidt.  The 
name  of  Baboon  Glen  was  now  changed  to  Vale  of 
Grace,  Gnadenthal.  But  this  renewed  mission,  at  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  still  meeting  with 
intense  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Boers. 

243.  The  story  of  anti-missions  in  Dutch  South 
Africa  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  missions  and  not 
the  least  instructive  part.  The  missionary  spirit  is 
simply  unselfishness,  generous  regard  for  others,  the 
disposition  to  share  with  them  in  our  highest  privi- 
leges. Its  reward  is  richness  of  life,  enduring  life. 
Its  opposite  is  selfishness,  which  is  the  very  essence 
of  sin,  ending  inevitably  in  self-destruction.     For  one 


SOUTH    AFRICA.  227 

hundred  and  fifty  years  the  Boers  refused  to  share  not 
only  Christian  hopes  and  helps  but  even  the  name  of 
manhood  with  the  natives.  If  they  had  been  liberal 
they  might  have  built  up  a  power  of  which  they  could 
not  have  been  easily  dispossessed. 

The  same  selfish  spirit  working  later  in  another 
direction  refused  to  share  manhood  suffrage  with  the 
men  who  brought  capital  and  enterprise  to  develop  the 
country. 

A  generous  fraternal  policy  might  have  unfolded 
the  Boer  republics  into  commonwealths  of  vast  power 
and  independence.  As  a  result  of  the  contrary  dis- 
position, at  the  end  of  another  hundred  years  the  land 
which  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  Boers  has  been 
taken  from  them. 

Thus,  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  millennium,  on  virgin 
and  propitious  soil  planted  with  seed  from  Holland, 
the  best  stock  in  Europe,  the  experiment  has  been 
wrought  out  to  a  finish,  the  experiment  of  living  unto 
one's  self,  even  the  larger  self  of  one's  own  kin  and 
social  circle.  And  sin  or  selfishness  when  it  is  finished 
bringeth  forth  death.  Not  only  for  individuals,  but 
for  whole  groups  of  people,  however  well  born  and 
religiously  gifted,  the  anti-missionary  spirit  holds 
within  itself  the  germs  of  inevitable  perdition. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

GREECE  AND  ITALY. 

244.  Alexander  and  Paul.  245.  Distinction  of  the  first 
church  in  Europe  on  record.  246.  Hunting  work. 
247.  One  of  the  great  plantings.  248.  The  nobility 
near  Olympus.  249.  In  "The  Eye."  250.  At  Corinth. 
251.  The  Sacred  Literature  of  the  New  Testarrfent  began 
in  the  land  of  letters.  252.  Post-apostolic  epistles  to 
and  from  Corinth.  253.  Recent  romantic  discovery. 
254.  Athenian  philosopher's  argument  for  Christ.  255. 
Paganism  in  Greece  slowly  expires.  256.  Crete.  257. 
Record  of  missions  in  Italy  meager.  258.  First  quarter 
of  a  century.  259.  Paul  in  Italy.  260.  Christians 
numerous  according  to  Tacitus.  261.  Days  of  Domitilla 
and  Clemens.  262.  Revelation  of  the  catacombs  as  to 
the  success  of  missions.  263.  Missionary  writings  of 
Justin  Martyr.  264.  A  conspicuous  conversion  by  the 
power  of  the  Old  Testament.        265.  Other  missionaries. 

244.  To  the  new  Troy  which  had  arisen  over  the 
ashes  of  the  old  Homeric  city  came  Alexander,  the 
son  of  Philip  of  Macedon.  It  was  a  moment  when 
the  ideality  which  was  in  him  rose  to  high  tide.  He 
poured  out  prayers  and  libations  to  the  Homeric 
gods.  He  had  turned  aside  to  make  this  his  first  act 
on  the  Asiatic  continent.  Then  he  swept  on  from  vic- 
tory to  victory  till  Macedonian  energy  ruled  the  conti- 
nent from  the  Hellespont  to  the  Indus. 

Nearly  four  centuries  later  an  Asiatic  of  greater 
228 


GREECE   AND   ITALY.  229 

ideality  stood  on  a  higher  stratum  of  the  same  Ilium. 
Paul  too  was  a  man  of  prayer  and  libation.  He  too 
heard  a  voice  calling  him  to  continental  conquest. 
He  had  no  phalanx  with  him,  but  he  plunged  into 
Europe  and  organized  a  force  of  world-conquering 
quality  out  of  the  tested  Macedonian  material.  In 
less  than  six  months  he  could  inspirit  his  little  army 
with  the  fact  of  its  already  wide  conquests.  "From 
you  has  sounded  forth  the  word  of  the  Lord,  not  only 
in  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  but  in  every  place  your 
faith  toward  God  has  gone  forth." 

The  Macedonian  stream  of  energy  eastward  was 
physical  and  intellectual,  observed  of  all  men.  The 
Macedonian  stream  of  energy  westward  was  vital  and 
spiritual   and   went  "without   observation." 

245.  It  was  twenty-one  years  after  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus  that  Paul,  Silas,  Timothy  and  Luke  landed 
on  the  shores  of  Europe  with  the  Good  News.  It 
had  been  brought  to  parts  of  the  continent  earlier,  but 
this  is  the  first  recorded  mission.  It  was  Paul's  second 
missionary  journey.  Luke,  perhaps  himself  a  Mace- 
donian, had  joined  the  party  at  Troas.  Possibly  it 
was  after  an  earnest  twilight  talk  with  Luke  that  Paul 
had  his  dream  there.  It  was  a  man  whom  he  saw. 
But  women  were  the  first  to  receive  the  Message  in 
Europe.  Lydia,  Euodia  and  Syntyche  were  the 
nucleus  of  Paul's  first  church  in  Macedonia,  and  they 
made  it  at  once  more  than  a  mission  church,  even  a 
missionary  church.  Lydia  was  so  well-to-do  that  she 
could  entertain  the  three  missionaries  in  her  home. 
We  know  not  whether  the  jailor  and  the  rest  of  the 


23O  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

young  church  had  much  means  or  not.  What  we  do 
know  is  that  within  a  month  after  their  own  organi- 
zation they  sent  two  distinct  contributions  to  support 
missionaries  in  the  regions  beyond. 

246.  Paul  and  Silas  are  soon  on  their  way  west- 
ward. At  the  end  of  a  three  days'  march  they  enter 
the  metropolis  of  Macedonia,  named  after  Alexander's 
sister  Thessalonica.  See  them,  footsore  and  dust- 
laden,  tramping  along  the  imperial  Via  Egnatia,  the 
highway  between  Orient  and  Occident.  It  was  the 
axis  of  the  city  when  Cicero  dwelt  here  in  exile  as  it 
continues  to  be  to  this  day. 

As  they  walk  wearily  along  the  street,  they  stop  at 
certain  places  of  business.  They  are  looking  for  work. 
At  last  in  one  of  the  alcove,  cupboard-like  shops  the 
proprietor  sitting  on  his  folded  feet  engages  them  to 
work  for  a  pittance  in  the  haircloth  goods  of  his  trade 
and  theirs.  It  is  a  season  of  scarcity.  Bread  is  six 
times  the  ordinary  price.  Even  with  all  the  contribu- 
tions from  Philippi,  they  are  obliged  to  make  excess- 
ively long  days,  toiling  over  the  coarse  fabric  far  into 
the  night.  If  some  realistic  artist  would  paint  us  the 
picture,  our  attention  would  be  fixed  on  the  central 
figure,  his  furrowed  face  and  possibly  troublesome 
eyes  bending  over  the  work  of  his  roughened  fingers 
in  the  light  of  a  dim  wick.  It  is  well  for  the  world 
that  there  was  a  Jewish  traditionalism  mightier  even 
than  Jewish  greed.  Every  seventh  day  meant  rest. 
Thessalonica  is  to-day  one  of  the  largest  Jewish  cities 
in  the  world  and  its  Sabbath  cessation  is  more  than 
Puritanic.    To  Paul  it  meant  not  the  opportunity  for 


GREECE  AND   ITALY.  23 1 

much-needed  sleep,  but  the  opportunity  for  pouring 
divine  life  into  the  moral  stagnation  of  the  Macedo- 
nian capital. 

247.  He  had  but  one  message  to  bring  on  the  three 
Sabbaths  of  his  opportunity,  viz.,  the  God-sent  Life 
given  unto  men  to  the  last  extremity  and  yet  victori- 
ously alive  in  its  self-giving.  This  is  the  Messiah 
for  whom  the  world  had  been  waiting,  "Jesus,  whom  I 
proclaim  to  you."  That  message  was  fresh  and  rad- 
ical then ;  in  its  reality  it  is  hardly  less  fresh  and  no 
whit  less  radical  still.  The  Macedonian  mob  of  Greeks 
and  Jews  blindly  felt  the  revolutionary  truth  and  hit 
it  off  in  aptest  phrase.  They  divined  that  it  was 
not  simply  one  more  myth,  like  the  swarm  of  myths 
gathered  about  the  snowy  heights  of  Olympus  yonder 
across  the  bay  in  front  of  their  city — that  it  was  not 
simply  another  doctrinal  quibble  of  Jewish  cabalism. 
Here  was  teaching  which  turned  the  whole  selfish 
scheme  of  life  "upside  down."  They  cried  aloud  at 
the  peril  to  Caesarism,  but  they  shook  within  at  the 
blow  to  selfism.  Nevertheless,  a  church  of  the  disci- 
ples was  formed.  A  few  months  after  two  short  let- 
ters were  sent  them.  Later  one  or  two  flying  visits 
were  given  them.  Such  was  the  planting  of  the  new 
life  in  Thessalonica. 

From  that  day  to  this  it  has  never  utterly  died  out 
in  that  place.  Convulsions  of  all  kinds,  seismic,  racial, 
political  and  religious,  have  shaken  the  town.  But 
Christianity  has  not  only  survived ;  it  has  from  time 
to  time  made  great  contributions  to  the  intellectual 
and  religious  life  of  the  world,  not  least  of  which 


2$2  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

was  rearing  the  men  who  became  the  missionaries  for 
the  conversion  of  the  whole  Slavonic  race.  The  Mo- 
hammedans have  ruled  the  city  for  750  years;  it  still 
has  several  of  the  oldest  and  finest  examples  of  early 
church  architecture  in  existence.  Many  of  them  have 
been  turned  into  mosques,  but,  for  a  wonder,  the  cross 
has  not  been  effaced  from  their  walls.  Paul  inaugu- 
rated a  movement  which  made  Thessalonica  one  of 
the  mother-cities  of  Christendom.  There  in  plain 
sight  of  Mount  Olympus,  the  fabled  seat  of  the  Greek 
and  Roman  gods,  he  established  the  forces  which 
were  to  drive  those  gods  out  of  Europe  and  out  of 
the  world. 

248.  Everywhere  Paul,  though  he  was  the  special 
missionary  to  the  heathen,  began  his  work  among  the 
Jews  and  those  whom  they  had  converted  from 
heathenism.  In  Berea,  forty-seven  miles  southwest  of 
Thessalonica,  he  found  unusually  open-minded  Jews 
as  well  as  Greeks.  "These  Jews  of  Berea  were  better 
disposed  than  those  in  Thessalonica,  for  they  wel- 
comed the  Message  with  great  readiness,  and  daily 
examined  the  Scriptures  to  see  if  what  was  said  was 
true.  As  a  consequence  many  of  them  believed  it, 
besides  a  considerable  number  of  Greek  ladies  of  posi- 
tion, as  well  as  men." 

249.  We  find  our  missionary  next  at  the  most  inter- 
esting point  in  all  his  wide  contact  with  classical 
heathenism.  His  charming  courtesy  toward  the  ideas 
of  the  Athenians  and  his  sincere  appreciation  of  their 
religion  are  a  matchless  model  for  missionaries  of  all 
ages.    "So  Paul  took  his  stand  in  the  middle  of  the 


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GREECE   AND   ITALY.  233 

court,  and  this  is  what  he  said :  'Men  of  Athens,  on 
every  hand  I  see  signs  of  your  being  very  religious.  In- 
deed as  I  was  going  about  and  looking  at  the  objects 
that  you  worship,  I  observed  an  altar  on  which  the 
dedication  was  inscribed,  'To  an  Unknown  God.' 
What  then  you  are  worshiping  without  knowledge,  is 
what  I  am  now  preaching  to  you.'  '  How  gracious  as 
well  as  wise  he  was  a  little  later  in  quoting  from  some 
of  their  "own  poets."  Further  notice  of  Paul  at  Athens 
has  been  made  in  our  first  chapter. 

250.  There  were  two  great  routes  between  Rome 
and  the  Orient,  one  through  Thessalonica,  the  other 
through  Corinth.  Paul  had  planted  Christianity  in  the 
Macedonian  metropolis  on  the  northern  route.  Now 
he  settled  at  the  Grecian  metropolis  on  the  southern 
route.  He  worked  in  Corinth  longer  than  in  most 
places,  a  year  and  a  half.  In  addition  to  establish- 
ing a  metropolitan  church,  his  work  here  had  mission- 
ary significance  for  other  places.  Here  that  able 
woman  Priscilla  and  her  husband  Aquila  were  led  into 
the  work  of  Christian  missions.  They  do  not  appear 
to  have  become  in  the  strictest  sense  missionaries,  but 
what  is  equally  important,  they  were  intimate  friends 
and  supporters  of  missions.  We  find  them  in  that 
capacity  later  in  Ephesus  and  also  in  Rome. 

Professor  Ramsay  believes  that  in  Corinth  Paul's 
own  missionary  policy  took  on  larger  proportions  and 
more  definite  plans.  This  development  may  have  been 
connected  with  the  deepening  of  his  theology  which 
seems  to  have  taken  place  here.  It  may  have  been 
promoted  also  by  the  fact  that  the  Proconsul,  Gallio,  a 


234  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

brother  of  the  most  influential  Roman  philosopher  and 
statesman,  Seneca,  granted  in  Corinth  a  good  measure 
of  religious  liberty  and  protection  from  Jewish  perse- 
cution. 

251.  It  was  in  Corinth  that  Paul  penned  his  first 
letters,  which  were  the  first  documents  of  the  New 
Testament  to  be  written.  All  his  letters  were  called 
out  by  the  exigencies  of  his  missionary  work.  The 
needs  of  the  recent  converts  in  Thessalonica  elicited 
the  first  two  letters.  Later,  after  a  second  visit  to 
Corinth,  the  desperate  needs  of  the  Corinthians  caused 
him  to  write  four  letters  to  them,  two  of  which  have 
been  preserved. 

Apollos,  having  been  set  right  himself  at  Ephesus, 
did  some  good  work  in  Corinth.  "When  he  wanted  to 
cross  to  Greece,  the  brethren  furthered  his  plans,  and 
wrote  to  the  disciples  there  to  welcome  him.  On  his 
arrival  he  proved  of  great  assistance  to  those  who 
had,  by  the  help  of  God,  become  believers  in  Christ, 
for  he  vigorously  confuted  the  Jews,  publicly  proving 
by  the  Scriptures  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ."  But  the 
Corinthian  mission  fell  into  bad  ways,  and  Paul  sent 
Timothy  to  help  them  out.  Timothy  failed.  Then  the 
apostle  sent  Titos,  who  had  better  success.  Paul  him- 
self made  a  third  visit  to  Corinth,  remaining  there 
three  months.  Then  he  wrote  his  great  letter  to  the 
Christians  in  the  capital  of  the  empire.  This  letter 
speaks  of  a  church  at  Cenchrea,  the  eastern  port  of 
Corinth.  But  for  this  incidental  mention  we  should 
not  know  of  this  church.  How  many  there  were  in 
Achaia  unknown  to  us  we  can  not  say.    Here  as  well 


GREECE  AND   ITALY.  235 

as  in  Macedonia  women  were  active.  One  of  the 
officers  of  the  church  was  Phoebe.  She  had  been  a 
most  efficient  fellow-worker  of  the  missionaries.  She 
was  trusted  with  Paul's  letter  and  was  herself  most 
cordially  commended  to  the  Romans.  The  events  in 
Macedonia  and  in  Greece  proper  which  have  now  been 
narrated  comprise  about  all  that  we  know  concerning 
missions  in  the  land  of  Alexander  and  of  Socrates 
They  occurred  between  the  years  51  and  58  A.  D 

252.  Near  the  end  of  the  first  century  Clement  of 
Rome  wrote  a  letter  in  behalf  of  that  church  to  the 
one  in  Corinth.  He  compliments  the  Corinthians  very 
highly  on  their  Christian  character.  The  second  gen- 
eration of  Christians  in  Corinth  must  have'  been  a 
great  improvement  over  the  first.  But,  alas !  jealousy 
and  discussion  arose  once  more.  Clement  sums  up 
the  situation  this  way :  "Every  kind  of  honor  and 
enlargement  was  bestowed  upon  you  and  then  was 
fulfilled  that  which  is  written,  'My  beloved  did  eat  and 
drink  and  was  enlarged  and  became  fat  and — kicked.'  ' 
Then  follows  a  long  letter  of  wholesome  advice.  It 
was  so  good  that  it  was  often  read  in  the  churches  of 
old  in  the  same  way  as  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 

In  the  second  century  Dionysius,  a  pastor  in  Corinth, 
wrote  letters  to  churches  in  various  parts  of  the 
empire,  one  to  the  church  in  Lacedsemon.  This  shows, 
what  we  can  be  sure  of  on  general  principles,  that 
Christianity  had  spread  into  other  parts  of  Greece. 

253.  In  that  century,  when  Hadrian  visited  Athens, 
(125)  Quadratus  and  Aristides,  Athenian  Christians, 
presented  to  him  memorials  in  defense  of  Christianity, 


236  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

which  are  said  to  have  modified  his  treatment  of  Chris- 
tians. These  precious  missionary  documents  were 
both  lost  from  the  knowledge  of  the  scholars  for 
more  than  fourteen  hundred  years.  But  in  1889  Pro- 
fessor J.  Rendel  Harris  found  in  the  Convent  of  St. 
Catharine  on  Mount  Sinai  a  veritable  copy  of  the 
"Apology  of  Aristides"  in  Syriac.  This  led  Professor 
J.  A.  Robinson  to  another  thrilling  discovery.  There 
is  a  well  known  early  Christian  romance  entitled  "The 
Life  of  Baarlam  and  Josaphat,"  which  is  nothing  less 
than  the  legend  of  Buddha  worked  over  into  a  story 
of  Christian  missions.  The  Indian  Prince  is  repre- 
sented as  inclining  to  Christianity  when  his  father 
gathered  a  great  assembly  for  public  debate  and 
appointed  one  of  his  sages  to  present  the  arguments 
for  Christianity  and  to  do  it  in  such  a  weak  way  as 
to  insure  its  overthrow.  The  sage  began,  and,  as  the 
romance  runs,  "like  Balaam's  ass  he  spoke  that  which 
he  had  not  purposed  to  speak,"  making  such  a  power- 
ful argument  for  Christianity  that  he  converted  himself, 
the  King,  the  Prince  (Buddha)  and  all  his  people. 
Now  it  turns  out  that  the  wonderful  argument  which 
the  sage  recited  is  nothing  else  than  the  "Apology  of 
Aristides,"  not  all  of  it,  but  a  very  large  portion. 
Hence  we  have — and  have  had  all  the  time,  if  we  had 
only  known  its  identity — in  the  original  Greek  in  which 
Aristides  wrote  it,  his  memorial  to  the  Roman  Emperor 
in  behalf  of  Christianity,  written  at  Athens  only  sev- 
enty-five years  after  Paul's  address  on  Mars'  Hill. 

254.  The  first  paragraph  sounds  almost  like  an  elab- 
orate echo  of  the  profound  thought  of  Paul : 


GREECE   AND   ITALY.  237 

"Here  follows  the  defence  which  Aristides  the  philosopher 
made  before  Hadrian  the  King  on  behalf  of  reverence  for  God. 
All-powerful   Caesar  Titus  Hadrianus  An- 
toninus, venerable  and  merciful,  from  Marcianus  Aristides,  an 
Athenian  philosopher. 

"1,0  King,  by  the  grace  of  God  came  into  this  world;  and 
when  I  had  considered  the  heaven  and  the  earth  and  the  seas, 
and  had  surveyed  the  sun  and  the  rest  of  creation,  I  marveled 
at  the  beauty  of  the  world.  And  I  perceived  that  the  world 
and  all  that  is  therein  are  moved  by  the  power  of  another; 
and  I  understood  that  he  who  moves  them  is  God,  who  is 
hidden  in  them,  and  veiled  by  them.  And  it  is  manifest  that 
that  which  causes  motion  is  more  powerful  than  that  which 
is  moved.  But  that  I  should  make  search  concerning  this 
same  mover  of  all,  as  to  what  is  his  nature  (for  it  seems  to 
me,  he  is  indeed  unsearchable  in  his  nature),  and  that  I  should 
argue  as  to  the  constancy  of  his  government,  so  as  to  grasp  it 
fully, — that  is  a  vain  effort  for  me ;  for  it  is  not  possible  that 
a  man  should  fully  comprehend  it.  I  say,  however,  concerning 
this  mover  of  the  world,  that  he  is  God  of  all,  who  made  all 
things  for  the  sake  of  mankind.  And  it  seems  to  me  that  this 
is  reasonable,  that  one  should  fear  God  and  should  not  oppress 
man." 

Aristides  proceeds  to  a  searching  analysis  of  pagan 
mythology  showing  up  its  deep  moral  degradation. 
He  then  advances  as  the  main  argument  for  Chris- 
tianity its  practical  outcome  in  pure,  noble,  unselfish 
lives.  For  dignity,  learning  and  practical  sense  the 
argument  of  Aristides  was  worthy  of  a  successor  of 
the  great  Missionary,  even  in  Athens.  As  the  old 
romancer  fancied,  the  realities  of  this  argument  will 
yet  supplant  Buddhism  and  every  other  defective 
"search  for  God,  if  after  all  they  might  feel  their  way 
to  him  and  find  him." 

255.  But  the  overthrow  of  paganism  is  always  a 


238  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

slow  process.  As  late  as  the  time  of  Valentinian  and 
Valens  (375),  heathen  temples  and  festivals  were  still 
common  in  Greece.  These  emperors  enacted  stringent 
laws  against  them.  A  pagan  Proconsul,  more  than 
three  hundred  years  after  Gallio's  toleration  of  Chris- 
tianity, had  to  solicit  tolerance  for  heathenism.  To 
the  credit  of  the  Emperor  Valens  it  was  granted. 
But  not  long  after  that  the  temples  and  customs  of 
paganism  fell  into  final  disuse. 

The  University  of  Athens,  however,  remained  in 
opposition  to  Christianity  until  it  was  suppressed  on 
that  account  by  Justinian  I,  A.  D.  529,  when  its  teach- 
ers fled  to  Persia.  Evidently  the  word  "pagan"  did 
not  always  mean  what  its  derivation  signified,  peas- 
ant. The  conservatism  of  learning  was  sometimes 
equal  to  that  of  ignorance.  But  as  a  rule  heathmen 
remained  longest  heathen.  The  Mainottes  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Peloponnesus  did  not  yield  to  Christianity 
until  near  the  end  of  the  ninth  century. 

256.  Christianity  was  planted  in  the  island  of  Crete 
sixty  miles  south  of  Greece  in  apostolic  times.  "Some 
Cretans"  were  present  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost.  There 
are  unmistakable  hints  of  Paul's  visiting  six  or  eight 
different  places  during  his  fourth  missionary  journey, 
or  series  of  journeys,  of  which  no  details  are  given. 
(A.  D.  63-65.)  One  of  these  was  Crete,  or  he  could 
not  have  said  in  writing  to  Titus,  "I  left  thee  in 
Crete."  Missions  had  been  successful  in  planting  the 
faith  in  a  number  of  places — "appoint  elders  in  every 
city."  One  of  the  letters  of  Dionysius  of  Corinth  in 
the  next  century  was  written  "to  the  church  of  Gor- 


GREECE  AND    ITALY.  239 

tyna  and  to  the  other  churches  in  Crete."  Eusebius 
says  that  in  this  epistle  "he  commends  their  bishop, 
Philip,  for  the  numerous  instances  of  fortitude  that 
the  church  evinced  under  him  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  all,  while  he  cautions  them  against  the  per- 
versions of  the  heretics." 

257.  As  we  enter  upon  the  history  of  missions  in  It- 
aly, we  are  forcibly  impressed  with  the  fact  that 
in  the  primitive  days  of  human  institutions 
men  are  completely  absorbed  in  the  work  of  founding 
them.  It  is  only  when  they  are  well  established  that 
elaborate  records  are  likely  to  be  kept.  The  records 
of  the  life  of  Christ  on  earth  were  unwritten  until 
from  thirty  to  sixty  years  after  his  crucifixion.  The 
four  Gospels  altogether  record  events  occurring  on 
not  more  than  thirty-five  days  of  his  ministry.  We 
wish  that  we  could  know  some  of  the  things  which  he 
said  and  did  on  the  other  thousand  days  and  more  of 
his  public  life,  to  say  nothing  of  the  ten  thousand  days 
of  essential  preparation. 

This  which  is  true  of  the  beginning  of  Christianity 
itself  is  true  of  its  introduction  into  every  land.  The 
history  of  missions  was  not  written  by  those  who  alone 
could  fully  write  it  and  we  are  the  losers.  Of  no 
country  is  this  want  of  records  more  impressive  than 
of  Italy.  The  land  which  was  the  very  center  of  the 
Roman  world  and  which  was  to  be  one  of  the  chief 
seats  of  Christianity  for  many  centuries  was  evangel- 
ized we  know  not  how  or  by  whom.  The  great  his- 
torian of  "Latin  Christianity,"  Dean  Milman,  well  says 
that  "Christianity  has  ever  more  faithfully  recorded 
her  dissensions  than  her  conquests." 


24O  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

258.  A  knowledge  of  Christ  was  carried  to  Rome  not 
later  than  the  year  30.    On  the  29th  of  May  that  year 
there  were  inhabitants  of  Rome  who  heard  in  Jeru- 
salem "of  the  great  things  God  has  done."    "Some  of 
us  are  visitors  from  Rome,  either  Jews  by  birth  or 
converts."    Some  of  these  "converts"  from  heathenism 
to  Judaism  doubtless  received  the  message  of  Peter 
and  were  baptized  that  day.     If  they  and  others  took 
not  only  a  knowledge  of  Christ  but  earnest  faith  in 
him  to  Rome,  then  Christianity  had  been  growing  there 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  when  Paul  wrote 
his  letter  to  the  Romans.     During  the  latter  part  of 
that  time  many  of  his  own  converts  and  fellow-work- 
ers had  gone  to  Rome.    There  were  twenty-seven  whom 
he  saluted  by  name,  giving  some  detail  of  personal 
acquaintance  with  most  of  them.     The  details  show 
that  they  were  his  missionary  coadjutors,  beginning 
with  "Priscilla  and  Aquila,  my  fellow-workers  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  for  my  life  laid  down  their  own  necks ;  unto 
whom  not  only  I  give  thanks,  but  also  all  the  churches 
of  the  Heathen ;  and  salute  the  church  that  is  in  their 
house."     There    were    probably    more    Christians    in 
Rome  at  that  time  than  could  conveniently  assemble 
in  any  one  place.     When   Priscilla  and  Aquila  came 
from  Ephesus  back  to  Rome  they  made  their  house 
one  of  the  regular  meeting-places  of  the  disciples.    One 
wonders  if  they  were  not  Christian  Jews  when  they 
left  Rome  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Claudius  and 
whether  they  were  sufficiently  well-to-do  to  have  owned 
a  home  there. 

The  well-assured  strength  of  Christianity  in  Rome 


GREECE   AND    ITALY.  24I 

is  indicated  by  Paul's  way  of  writing  about  his  intended 
visit  as  being  not  only  for  work  among  the  Romans 
but  largely  for  the  sake  of  making  them  a  base  of 
operations  for  his  mission  to  Spain.  It  is  also  sug- 
gested by  the  massive  character  of  the  letter  and  is 
plainly  stated  in  the  words  "your  faith  is  proclaimed 
throughout  the  world." 

259.  Three  years  after  his  letter  Paul  reached  Rome 
as  a  prisoner.  On  landing  at  Puteoli,  more  than  one 
hundred  miles  from  Rome,  he  was  met  by  a  group  of 
Christians,  showing  that  the  gospel  had  been  planted 
in  Italy  far  from  the  capital.  They  persuaded  Paul, 
Luke  and  Aristarchus  to  stay  a  week  with  them.  Dur- 
ing that  eventful  winter  the  party  of  missionaries  had 
gained  a  great  ascendency  over  Captain  Julius  of  the 
Imperial  Regiment,  or  he  would  not  have  allowed  his 
prisoner  to  determine  the  length  of  the  stay  at  Puteoli. 

Once  in  Rome,  Paul  lost  no  time  in  beginning  mis- 
sionary work.  "Three  days  after  our  arrival  Paul 
invited  the  leading  Jews  to  meet  him."  Having  come 
to  this  first  conference,  "they  then  fixed  a  day  with 
him,  and  came  to  the  place  where  he  was  staying,  in 
even  larger  numbers,  when  Paul  proceeded  to  lay  the 
subject  before  them.  He  bore  his  testimony  to  the  King- 
dom of  God,  and  tried  to  convince  them  about  Jesus, 
by  arguments  drawn  from  the  Law  of  Moses  and  from 
the  Prophets — from  morning  till  evening."  To  those 
who  rejected  he  quoted  from  Isaiah  as  to  self-blinding 
and  added :  "Understand,  then,  that  this  Salvation  of 
God  was  sent  to  the  heathen ;  and  they  will  listen." 

Paul  made  such  a  defense  before  the  court  of  Nero 


242  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

that  he  was  cleared.  But  it  was  a  long  process  and 
the  great  Missionary  used  the  intervals  of  time  to 
the  best  advantage  for  his  work.  "Paul  stayed  two 
whole  years  in  a  house  which  he  rented  for  himself, 
welcoming  all  who  came  to  see  him,  proclaiming  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  all  about  Jesus  Christ. 
the  Master,  with  perfect  fearlessness,  and  unmolested." 
260.  The  next  year  after  Paul's  acquittal  occurred 
an  event  which  has  given  us  a  notice  of  Christianity 
from  the  pen  of  the  great  Roman  historian  Tacitus, 
including  the  statement  that  there  was  "a  vast  multi- 
tude" of  Christians  in  Rome.  On  the  18th  of  June, 
A.  D.  64,  a  conflagration  started  which  ran  unchecked 
for  six  days  and  left  only  four  of  the  fourteen  sections 
of  the  city  untouched.  It  was  believed  to  be  one  of 
the  brutal  freaks  of  Nero  that  he  might  rebuild  the 
city  on  a  scale  of  greater  splendor  and  have  space  to 
open  vast  pleasure  gardens  for  himself.  Tacitus  con- 
cludes the  terrible  story  as  follows  : 

"But  not  all  the  relief  that  could  come  from  man,  not  all  the 
bounties  that  the  prince  could  bestow,  nor  all  the  atonements 
which  could  be  presented  to  the  gods,  availed  to  relieve  Nero 
from  the  infamy  of  being  believed  to  have  ordered  the  confla- 
gration. Hence  to  suppress  the  rumor,  he  falsely  charged  with 
the  guilt,  and  punished  with  the  most  exquisite  tortures,  the 
persons  commonly  called  Christians,  who  were  hated  for  their 
enormities.  Christus,  the  founder  of  that  name,  was  put  to 
death  as  a  criminal  by  Pontius  Pilate,  procurator  of  Judea,  in 
the  reign  of  Tiberius ;  but  the  pernicious  superstition,  repressed 
for  a  time,  broke  out  again,  not  only  through  Judea,  where  the 
mischief  originated,  but  through  the  city  of  Rome  also, 
whither  all  things  horrible  and  disgraceful  flow,  from  all 
quarters,  as  to  a  common  receptacle,  and  where  they  are  en- 


GREECE   AND    ITALY.  243 

couraged.  Accordingly,  first  those  were  seized  who  confessed 
they  were  Christians;  next,  on  their  information,  a  vast  multi- 
tude were  convicted,  not  so  much  on  the  charge  of  burning 
the  city,  as  of  hating  the  human  race.  And  in  their  deaths  they 
were  also  made  the  subjects  of  sport,  for  they  were  covered 
with  the  hides  of  wild  beasts,  and  worried  to  death  by  dogs,  or 
nailed  to  crosses,  or  set  fire  to,  and  when  day  declined,  burned 
to  serve  for  nocturnal  lights.  Nero  offered  his  own  gardens 
for  that  spectacle  and  exhibited  a  Circensian  game,  indiscrim- 
inately mingling  with  the  common  people  in  the  habit  of  a 
charioteer,  or  else  standing  in  his  chariot.  Whence  a  feeling 
of  compassion  arose  toward  the  sufferers,  though  guilty  and 
deserving  to  be  made  examples  of  by  capital  punishment,  be- 
cause they  seemed  not  to  be  cut  off  for  the  public  good,  but 
victims  to  the  ferocity  of  one  man." 

261.  Before  the  year  ioo,  the  Emperor  Domitian 
had  his  own  cousin,  Flavius  Clemens,  executed  on  a 
charge  of  atheism,  the  common  charge  against  Jews 
and  Christians  who  refused  to  worship  idols,  and  the 
wife  of  Clemens,  Flavia  Domitilla,  banished.  Ancient 
inscriptions  which  have  been  found  in  modern  times 
prove  that  Domitilla  was  a  Christian.  This  was  the 
period  too  when  a  pastor  of  the  Roman  church  by  the 
name  of  Clement  wrote  a  letter  to  Corinth  of  which 
we  have  an  undoubted  copy. 

262.  About  this  time,  the  end  of  the  first  century, 
the  Christians  of  Rome  began  to  make  the  underground 
cemeteries  called  catacombs,  a  network  of  galleries  dug 
through  the  soft  rock  with  shelf-like  alcoves  for  the 
bodies  and  occasional  enlargements  of  the  galleries 
where  funeral  services  and  other  meetings  could  be 
held  in  times  of  persecution.  They  extended  these 
catacombs  as  need  required  during  nearly  three  bun- 


244  TW0    THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

dred  years.  After  having  been  lost  to  view  for  many 
centuries  these  corridors  of  graves  with  their  many 
hundreds  of  epitaphs,  inscriptions,  symbols,  and  even 
paintings,  have  been  unsealed  to  give  us  the  surest 
knowledge  as  to  the  wide  extent  of  Christianity  in 
Rome.  Measurements  show  that  there  are  now  known 
587  miles  of  these  subterranean  passages  and  that  at 
the  lowest  estimate  1,752,000  Christians  were  buried 
in  them  before  the  year  400.  Some  archeologists  put 
the  numbers  very  much  higher.  But,  judging  from 
the  lowest  estimate,  there  must  have  been  as  many  as 
175,000  Christians  living  in  Rome  by  the  middle  of  the 
period  of  the  catacombs,  say  240  A.  D. 

The  catacombs  show  not  only  that  there  were  great 
numbers  of  Christians  but  also  that  many  of  them 
belonged  to  families  of  wealth  and  distinction.  In 
Paul's  day  dependents  in  Caesar's  household  were  of 
the  faith.  Later,  some  of  higher  station  became  Chris- 
tians. The  first  empress  strongly  to  favor  Christian- 
ity was  Severina,  the  second  wife  of  the  infamous 
Elagabalus  (218-222  A.  D.).  The  Emperor  Alexan- 
der Severus  (222-235)  put  a  statue  of  Jesus  in  his 
collection  of  revered  men  and  had  the  Golden  Rule 
inscribed  over  the  gateway  of  the  palace.  There 
were,  however,  still  to  be,  as  there  had  been  already, 
terrible  persecutions  before  Christianity  became  strong 
enough  to  win  full  imperial  sanction  under  Constan- 
tine  (312).  But  then  the  capital  of  the  empire  was 
no  longer  in  Italy. 

263.  While  there  is  little  record  of  the  methods 
employed,  the  results  which  were  surely  attained  show 
that  there  was  an  immense  amount  of  earnest  mission- 


GREECE   AND   ITALY.  245 

ary  activity  in  Italy  in  the  early  days.  One  element 
in  the  process  was  the  same  as  that  which  we  have 
seen  in  Egypt,  North  Africa  and  Greece,  the  work  of 
literary  champions  of  the  new  faith.  The  best  known 
of  these  in  the  early  days  in  Rome  was  Justin,  who 
gave  up  his  life  for  Christ  there  (A.  D.  163)  in  such 
a  noble  way  that  he  has  always  been  known  as  Justin 
Martyr*  Having  had  his  physical  birth  in  Palestine, 
his  intellectual  birth  in  Greece  or  in  Greek  philosophy, 
and  his  spiritual  birth  in  Asia  Minor,  he  wore  his  bap- 
tized philosopher's  robe  to  Rome  and  established  him- 
self there  as  an  advocate  of  Christianity.  He  wrote 
two  addresses  to  the  imperial  court.  The  first  begins : 
"To  the  Emperor  Titus  iElius  Adrianus  Antoninus  Pius 
Augustus  Caesar,  and  to  his  son  Verissimus  the  philosopher, 
and  to  Lucius  the  philosopher,  the  natural  son  of  Caesar,  and 
the  adopted  son  of  Pius,  a  lover  of  learning,  and  to  the  sacred 
senate,  with  the  whole  people  of  the  Romans.  I.  Justin,  the  son 
of  Priscus  and  grandson  of  Bacchius,  natives  of  Flavia  Neapo- 
lis  in  Palestine,  present  this  address  and  petition  in  behalf  of 
those  of  all  nations  who  are  unjustly  hated  and  wantonly 
abused,  myself  being  one  of  them." 

Continuing,  he  points  out  the  injustice,  the  folly  and 
the  vice  of  heathenism  contrasted  with  the  simple,, 
pure  life  and  the  reasonable  faith  of  Christianity.  The 
two  "apologies,"  as  printed  in  English,  cover  seventy- 
seven  pages.  Justin's  other  great  missionary  writing 
was  an  argumentative  "Dialogue  with  Trypho,  a  Jew." 
This  occupies  nearly  two  hundred  pages.  Justin  was 
remarkable  for  his  breadth  of  view  and  his  generous 
appreciation  of  the  religions  which  he  was  endeavoring 
to  supplant. 


246  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

264.  A  contemporary  of  Justin  in  Rome  was  Tatian. 
He  had  been  through  a  similar  course  to  that  of  Justin 
in  respect  of  Greek  philosophy  and  had  dipped  even 
more  deeply  into  the  heathen  religions.  Let  him  tell 
us  how  he  was  converted  by  the  power  of  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures : 

"Wherefore,  having  seen  these  things,  and  moreover  also 
having  been  admitted  to  the  mysteries,  and  having  everywhere 
examined  the  religious  rites  performed  by  the  effeminate  and 
the  pathic,  and  having  found  among  the  Romans  their  Lati- 
arian  Jupiter  delighting  in  human  gore  and  the  blood  of 
slaughtered  men,  and  Artemis  not  far  from  the  great  city 
sanctioning  acts  of  the  same  kind,  and  one  demon  here  and  an- 
other there  instigating  to  the  perpetration  of  evil, — retiring  by 
myself,  I  sought  how  I  might  be  able  to  discover  the  truth. 
And,  while  I  was  giving  my  most  earnest  attention  to  the  mat- 
ter, I  happened  to  meet  with  certain  barbaric  writings,  too  old 
to  be  compared  with  the  opinions  of  the  Greeks,  and  too  divine 
to  be  compared  with  their  errors ;  and  I  was  led  to  put  faith  in 
these  by  the  unpretending  cast  of  the  language,  the  inartificial 
character  of  the  writers,  the  foreknowledge  displayed  of  future 
events,  the  excellent  quality  of  the  precepts,  and  the  declaration 
of  the  government  of  the  universe  as  centered  in  one  being. 
And,  my  soul  being  taught  of  God,  I  discerned  that  the  former 
class  of  writings  lead  to  condemnation,  but  that  these  put  an 
end  to  the  slavery  that  is  in  the  world,  and  rescue  us  from  a 
multiplicity  of  rulers  and  ten  thousand  tyrants,  while  they  give 
us,  not  indeed  what  we  had  not  before  received,  but  what  we 
had  received  but  were  prevented  by  error  from  retaining." 

Tatian  attended  lectures  of  Justin  and  was  accused 
before  the  authorities  by  the  same  enemy  of  Chris- 
tianity, one  Crescens.  Though  Justin  and  Tatian  had 
so  much  in  common,  they  are  very  different  in  style 
and  tone.  In  his  "Discourse  Against  the  Greeks" 
Tatian  is  able  to  find  no  good  in  heathenism— with 


GREECE   AND   ITALY.  247 

the  possible  exception  of  Socrates.  He  relentlessly 
holds  it  up  to  scorn. 

265.  Another  literary  advocate  of  Christianity  in 
Rome  was  Hippolytus  in  the  third  century.  He  wrote 
many  works.  The  titles  of  forty  are  preserved,  eleven 
being  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures.  Only  frag- 
ments of  his  arguments  "Against  the  Jews"  and 
"Against  the  Greeks"  are  preserved. 

In  addition  to  the  preaching  missionaries  and  the 
literary  missionaries  there  were — most  important  of 
all — the  business  men  missionaries.  Christianity  was 
carried  through  Italy  and  the  empire  largely  by  the 
unordained  Christians  who  commended  their  faith  by 
their  daily  lives  and  their  words. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

SPAIN  AND  FRANCE. 

266.  Apostolic  missions.  267.  Early  glimpses  of 
Christianity.  268.  The  Council  of  Elvira.  269.  Iren- 
aeus.  270.  Martyrs  for  the  truth.  271.  Missions  from 
monastic  centers.  272.  The  Burgundian  reception  of 
Christianity.  273.  Salvian's  comparison  of  Romanists 
with  Goths.  274.  The  conversion  of  Clovis.  275. 
The  baptism  of  Clovis.        276.  Conclusion. 

266.  "Having  these  many  years  a  longing  to  come 
unto  you,  whensoever  I  go  into  Spain  (for  I  hope 
to  see  you  in  my  journey,  and  to  be  brought  on  my 
way  thitherward  by  you,  if  first  in  some  measure  I 
shall  have  been  satisfied  with  your  company) — but 
now,  I  say,  I  go  unto  Jerusalem,  ministering  unto 
the  Saints.  .  .  .  When  therefore  I  have  accom- 
plished this  and  have  sealed  to  them  this  fruit,  I  will 
go  on  by  you  unto  Spain."  Did  the  man  pre-eminently 
known  as  the  Missionary  to  the  Heathen  accomplish 
this  purpose?  Clement  of  Rome,  who  wrote  before 
the  year  100,  says  that  Paul  "taught  righteousness  to 
the  whole  world  and  reached  the  boundary  of  the 
West."  The  boundary  of  the  West  generally  meant 
Spain,  and  Clement  is  a  trustworthy  witness.  About 
the  year  185  Irenaeus  speaks  of  "churches  which  have 
248 


SPAIN  AND  FRANCE.  249 

been  planted  in  Spain,"  and  early  in  the  next  century 
Tertullian,  in  one  of  his  sweeping  phrases,  speaks  of 
"all  the  limits  of  the  Spains"  as  believing  on  Christ. 

The  foregoing  paragraph  tells  what  is  known  con- 
erning  the  evangelization  of  Spain.  Each  imagina- 
tion must  fill  out  the  picture  to  suit  itself.  Spain  was 
intimately  related  to  Rome.  Such  Spaniards  as  Lucan, 
Seneca,  Quintilian  and  Martial  were  counted  Romans. 
Other  missionaries  than  Paul,  some  of  them  perhaps 
before  him,  many  of  them  certainly  after  him,  made 
Christ  known  and  loved  to  the  "Boundary  of  the 
West."  There  are  many  and  conflicting  traditions  of 
late  origin  and  of  no  value  as  to  the  relations  of  the 
apostle  James  with  Spain.  Iago  is  the  patron  saint  of 
the  country.  But  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  after 
Paul's  day  we  do  not  find  a  scrap  of  history  concerning 
missions  in  Spain  or  concerning  Christianity  there. 

267.  But  it  is  certain  that  Christianity  was  spread- 
ing there  during  that  time,  for  in  the  year  254  we 
get  a  glimpse  of  it  in  a  letter  of  Cyprian  of  North 
Africa  sent  to  Christians  in  Spain  in  answer  to  an 
inquiry  of  theirs  as  to  a  matter  of  discipline.  He 
speaks  explicitly  of  Christians  in  Leon,  Astorga,  Merida 
and  Saragossa,  places  in  the  northwestern,  southwest- 
ern and  eastern  parts  of  the  peninsula.  He  mentions 
two  ministers  by  the  name  of  Felix  and  a  deacon, 
Laelius,  besides  the  two  ministers  under  discipline, 
Basilides  and  Martial.  His  words  imply  that  there 
were  more  than  these,  probably  many  more.  The  let- 
ter was  called  out,  not  by  a  question  as  to  the  propa- 
gation of  the  gospel,  but  by  a  question  as  to  the  treat- 


25O  TWO   THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

ment  of  those  who  had  relapsed  into  heathenism.  But 
the  record  shows  that  the  faith  had  been  widely  dis- 
seminated. 

From  that  time  on  there  are  records  of  martyrs  to 
the  faith  in  Spain.  It  is  impossible  to  separate  fact 
from  fiction  in  the  accounts  of  them  which  have  reached 
us.  But  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  there  were  of 
true-hearted  Christians  not  a  few  who  gladly  gave 
up  their  lives  rather  than  to  deny  Christ.  The  earliest 
and  best  accounts  are  in  the  poems  of  Prudentius,  a 
highly  educated  man  who  became  a  devout  Christian 
about  the  year  400  and  sang  the  praises  of  the  mar- 
tyrs, thirty  of  them  by  name,  some  at  great  length. 
Eighteen  of  them  belonged  to  the  town  of  Saragossa. 

268.  About  the  year  305  a  church  council  was  held 
at  Elvira,  near  Granada,  attended  by  nineteen  bishops 
and  twenty-four  other  ministers,  from  various  parts 
of  Spain.  The  council  passed  eighty-one  resolutions, 
all  of  which  have  come  down  to  us.  They  show  that 
heathenism  was  still  rampant  in  the  land,  that  perse- 
cuted Christians  were  strongly  tempted  to  conform 
to  some  of  the  idolatrous  customs,  and  that  the 
churches  were  having  a  hand-to-hand  struggle  with  the 
practical  immoralities  of  paganism.  But  they  show 
also  that  churches  had  been  established  a  long  time, 
were  equipped  with  splendid  buildings,  and  numbered 
among  their  members  men  of  large  wealth  and  of  prom- 
inence in  public  life. 

One  of  the  bishops,  the  second  to  sign  the  decisions 
of  the  council,  was  Hosius.  He  became  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  churchmen  in  the  Roman  Empire, 


SPAIN  AND  FRANCE.  25 1 

the  special  counselor  of  Constantine,  and  probably  the 
president  of  the  Council  of  Nicea.  Much  has  been 
recorded  of  him,  but  it  is  not  a  part  of  missionary  his- 
tory, except  in  one  particular.  It  is  a  striking  fact 
that  the  most  eminent  Christian  minister  that  Spain 
has  ever  produced  lived  before  the  year  300  A.  D. 

269.  We  turn  now  to  France.  Among  the 
earliest  triumphs  of  the  gospel  of  which  we  have  rec- 
ord after  the  first  century  were  those  along  the  banks  of 
the  Rhone  in  southeastern  France.  Lyons  and  Vienne 
were  the  chief  centers.  Here  Irenaeus  became  a  great 
Christian  leader  and  author  before  the  year  200.  He 
was  a  disciple  of  Polycarp  of  Smyrna  in  Asia  Minor, 
who  was  himself  a  disciple  of  John  the  beloved.  Lyons 
had  been  settled  originally  by  merchants  from  Asia 
Minor.  Pothinus  a  friend  of  Polycarp,  was  the  first 
missionary  whose  name  has  reached  us.  He  used  the 
Greek  language.  But  Irenaeus  with  much  pains  made 
himself  complete  master  of  the  Celtic  tongue  so  that 
the  gospel  might  take  deep  hold  of  the  people  at 
large. 

270.  By  the  year  177  Christians  about  Lyons  were 
sufficiently  numerous  and  active  to  bring  down  on 
themselves  bitter  persecution.  The  story  of  their  hero- 
ism has  been  preserved  by  Eusebius  in  extended  quo- 
tations from  a  letter  written  at  Lyons  soon  after  and 
sent  to  friends  in  Asia  Minor.  This  is  not  like  the 
apocryphal  martyrologies  of  later  time,  but  is  acknowl- 
edged by  all  scholars  to  be  an  original  and  authentic 
record.  We  ought  to  cherish  sacredly  the  names  of 
these    earliest    known   confessors  of   the   faith   with 


252  TWO   THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

their  lives  before  European  pagans  after  the  days 
of  the  apostles.  Those  preserved  are  Vettius,  Epo- 
gathus,  Sanctus,  Attalus,  Blandina,  Biblias,  Pothinus, 
Maturus,  Alexander  and  Ponticus. 

Christianity  had  penetrated  the  land  far  beyond 
Lyons.  At  Autun,  one  hundred  miles  northward, 
the  wave  of  persecution  which  swept  Vienne  and  Lyons 
found  victims.  Benignus,  a  disciple  of  Polycarp,  had 
carried  the  gospel  there.  One  of  the  converts,  Sym- 
phorian,  a  young  native  nobleman,  refused  to  make 
obeisance  to  the  image  in  a  pagan  procession.  He 
was  arrested,  and  on  his  way  to  execution  his  mother, 
a  Christian,  cried  out  to  him  from  the  walls:  "My 
son,  Symphorian,  remember  the  loving  God.  Lift  up 
thine  heart  and  look  to  him.  He  reigns  in  the  heavens. 
Be  not  afraid;  it  is  not  thy  life  they  will  take  away 
this  day.    They  will  only  change  it  for  the  better." 

Denys  of  Paris  was  not  Dionysius  the  Areopagite, 
as  late  legends  aver,  but  a  missionary  pastor  who  suf- 
fered martyrdom  in  Paris  about  270  A.  D.  Because 
it  was  in  Paris  he  has  been  counted  the  patron  saint 
of  France.  He  was  one  of  many  missionaries  of  whose 
work  we  have  no  detailed  knowledge  who  brought 
the  gospel  into  Europe.  There  will  be  a  great  army 
at  the  final  roll-call. 

271.  The  most  distinguished  figure  in  western  Gaul 
was  Martin,  Bishop  of  Tours.  He  was  the  first  great 
promoter  of  monasticism  m  France.  It  was  not  only 
a  contemplative  but  also  an  aggressive  monasticism 
which  he  led.  Like  Loyola  later,  he  had  been  a  soldier 
before  he  became  a  Christian,  and  he  went  with  his 


SPAIN  AND  FRANCE.  253 

company  of  stern  ascetics  throughout  western  Gaul 
overthrowing  the  monuments  and  temples  of  both 
Druidical  and  Roman  paganism.  In  the  last  quarter 
of  the  fourth  century  he  was  instrumental  in  firmly 
establishing  Christianity  over  a  wide  area.  He  was 
active  to  eighty  years  of  age,  when  he  prayed :  "Lord, 
if  I  am  still  needed  for  thy  people,  I  would  not  draw 
back  from  the  work."  His  tomb  became  a  shrine,  and 
his  words,  "Non  recuso  laborem,"  a  watchword  for 
missionaries  in  all  western  Europe. 

On  Lerins  Island,  off  the  southern  coast  of  France, 
near  Cannes,  Honoratos  founded  and  fostered  a  school 
which  sent  out  many  missionary  workers.  Victricus 
of  Rouen,  in  the  north  of  France,  evangelized  from 
that  center  far  and  wide,  reaching  by  the  year  390 
as  far  east  as  Belgium. 

272.  By  the  year  400  A.  D.  Celtic-Roman  Gaul  had 
been  extensively  evangelized.  Then  the  work  of 
evangelization  had  to  be  done  over  with  the  foreign 
population  formed  over  the  country  by  the  great  Teu- 
tonic immigration.  With  the  new  race  there  came  a 
new  method  of  conversion,  the  wholesale  or  tribal 
method.  The  Burgundian  was  one  of  the  early  tribes 
to  accept  the  Christian  name.  The  quaint  account  of 
the  ancient  historian  Socrates  best  tells  the  story : 

"I  will  now  relate  a  thing  worthy  to  be  recorded  which  hap- 
pened about  this  very  time.  There  is  a  barbarous  nation  which 
have  their  abode  beyond  the  river  Rhine;  they  are  called  the 
Burgundions.  These  people  lead  a  quiet  life;  for  they  are,  for 
the  most  part,  wood-cutters, by  which  business  they  earn  wages 
and  get  a  livelihood.     The  nation  of  the  Hunni,  by  making  con- 


254  TW0   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

tinual  inroads  upon  this  people,  depopulated  their  country,  and 
frequently  destroyed  many  of  them.  The  Burgundions. 
therefore,  reduced  to  great  straits,  flew  for  refuge  to  no  man, 
but  resolved  to  entrust  themselves  to  some  god  to  protect  them, 
and  having  seriously  considered  with  themselves  that  the  God 
of  the  Romans  did  vigorously  assist  and  defend  those  that 
feared  him,  they  all,  by  a  general  consent,  came  over  to  the 
faith  of  Christ.  Repairing  accordingly  to  one  of  the  cities  of 
Gallia,  they  made  request  to  the  bishop  that  they  might  receive 
Christian  baptism.  The  bishop  ordered  them  to  fast  for  seven 
days,  in  which  interval  he  instructed  them  in  the  grounds  of 
the  faith,  and  on  the  eighth  day  baptized  and  so  dismissed 
them.  Being  encouraged  thereby,  they  marched  out  against 
the  Hunni,  and  were  not  deceived  in  their  expectation ;  for  the 
king  of  the  Hunni,  whose  name  was  Optar,  having  burst  him- 
self in  the  night  by  over-eating,the  Burgundions  fell  upon  his 
people,  then  destitute  of  a  commander,  and,  few,  though  they 
were,  engaged  and  conquered  very  many.  For  the  Burgundi- 
ons being  in  number  only  three  thousand,  destroyed  about  ten 
thousand  of  the  Huns.  And  from  that  time  the  nation  of  the 
Burgundions  became  zealous  professors  of  Christianity." 

273.  The  Goths  and  some  of  the  other  Teutonic 
tribes  were  Arian  Christians  before  they  entered  Gaul. 
In  fact,  though  not  in  theory,  they  were  as  good  Chris- 
tians as  the  Romanists,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
Salvian.  Addressing  his  fellow  Romanists,  he  said : 
"You  think  that  you  are  better  than  the  barbarians; 
they  are  heretics,  you  say,  and  we  are  true  believers. 
I  reply  that  in  faith  you  no  doubt  excel  them ;  but  in 
your  lives; — I  say  it  with  tears — you  are  even  worse 
than  they." 

274.  The  Teutonic  tribe  which  gave  name  and 
nationality  to  the  French  had  for  a  ruler  Hlodwig, 
whose  name  was  softened  into  Clovis  and  later  into 


SPAIN  AND  FRANCE.  255 

Louis.  On  the  death  of  his  father,  Clovis,  though 
only  a  youth,  was  held  aloft  on  a  buckler  by  the  rude 
Frank  warriors  in  acknowledgment  of  his  chieftain- 
ship. He  remained  a  pagan  till  he  was  thirty  years 
of  age.  Meantime  he  saw  much  of  Roman-Celtic 
Christianity  and  allowed  it  liberty  and  protection.  He 
married  Clotilda,  a  princess  of  the  Burgundians,  who 
had  already  accepted  Christianity,  as  we  have  seen. 
Clotilda  was  earnest  in  her  Christian  convictions.  She 
insisted  that  their  first-born  son  should  be  christened. 
The  babe  soon  died  and  the  superstition  of  Clovis 
attributed  the  death  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  protec- 
tion of  the  heathen  gods.  He  consented,  however, 
though  with  extreme  reluctance,  to  the  christening  of 
a  second  son.  But  he  himself  held  firmly  to  paganism 
until  one  day  he  found  himself  confronted  by  an  over- 
whelming force  of  enemies  on  a  battlefield  near  Zul- 
pich,  Germany.  Then  he  prayed  to  Clotilda's  God 
to  give  him  the  victory,  promising  to  be  baptized  into 
the  name  of  Jesus.  The  leader  of  his  foes  died  that 
night,  leaving  him  a  complete  and  easy  victory.  Clovis 
did  not  forget  his  pledge.  He  appears  to  have  sent 
at  once  for  Vedastus,  a  Christian  minister,  to  come 
and  give  him  religious  instruction.  On  reaching 
Rheims,  the  capital  of  his  dominions,  he  put  himself 
under  the  tuition  of  Remigius,  the  Christian  pastor 
there. 

275.  At  an  early  day  (December  25,  496)  he 
acknowledged  Christ  in  baptism.  As  the  conversion 
of  Clovis  is  counted  the  supreme  crisis  in  the  Chris- 
tianization  of  Western  Europe,  let  us  have  the  account 


256  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

in  the  words  of  Hincmar,  an  early  successor  to  the 
Bishopric  of  Rheims. 

"The  way  leading  to  the  baptistry  was  put  in  order ;  on  both 
sides  it  was  hung  with  painted  canvas  and  curtains ;  overhead 
there  was  a  protecting  shade;  the  streets  were  leveled,  the 
baptistry  of  the  church  was  prepared  for  the  occasion,  and 
sprinkled  with  balsam  and  other  perfumes.  Moreover,  the 
Lord  bestowed  favor  on  the  people  that  they  might  think 
that  they  were  refreshed  with  the  sweet  odors  of  Paradise. 

''The  holy  pontiff  Remigius,  holding  the  hand  of  the  king, 
went  forth  from  the  royal  residence  to  the  baptistry,  followed 
by  the  queen  and  the  people ;  the  holy  gospels  preceded  them, 
with  all  hymns  and  spiritual  songs  and  litanies,  and  the  names 
of  the  saints  were  loudly  invoked.  .  .  .  The  blessed 
Remigius  officiated  on  the  solemn  occasion. 
Clovis  having  entered  the  life-giving  fountain, 
after  confessing  the  orthodox  faith  in  answer  to  questions  put 
by  the  holy  pontiff,  was  baptized  by  trine  immersion  according 
to  ecclesiastical  usage  (secundum  ecclesiasticam  morem,  bap- 
tizatus  est  trina  mersione),  in  the  name  of  the  holy  and  undi- 
vided Trinity,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.  *  *  *  More- 
over, from  his  army  three  thousand  men  were  baptized." 

276.  Clovis  was  ever  a  rough  and  ruthless  warrior. 
Moved  by  the  story  of  Christ's  crucifixion,  he  ex- 
claimed :  "Had  I  been  there  with  my  brave  Franks 
I  would  have  avenged  his  wrongs."  This  is  the  noblest 
word  that  has  reached  us  from  his  lips.  But  from 
his  time  on  France  was  Christian  in  name,  though  not 
completely  evangelized  until  many  years  later.  There 
had  been  a  long  line  of  zealous  missionary  workers 
from  Irenaeus  to  Clotilda,  whose  names  have  faded 
from  authentic  history,  but  whose  work  has  endured. 


S 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

BRITAIN,  IRELAND  AND  SCOTLAND. 

277.  Celtic  and  Roman  rule  in  the  British  Islands. 
278.  Early  spread  of  Christianity  in  Britain.  279.  The 
legendary  and  the  real  Patrick.  280.  A  slave.  281. 
While  escaping,  doing  missionary  work.  282.  Dreams 
and  education.  283.  Missionary  conviction.  284. 
Opening  work  on  Strangford  Lough.  285.  Tara,  Killala 
Bay,  Cavan  and  Armagh.  286.  Of  what  church  was 
Patrick?  287.  Character  of  his  writings.  288.  Palla- 
dius,  Brigida  and  other  missionaries  in  Ireland.  289.  The 
Scots  and  Scotland.  290.  The  White  House  mission  on. . 
Sol  way  Firth.  291.  Strathclyde  evangelized.  292.  Co- 
lumba  and  Northwestern  Scotland.  293.  Dunstan's  tears 
and  Northeastern  Scotland.  294.  The  Dove-Wolf's 
great  apostleship. 

277.  Every  record  of  the  early  history  of  Christian- 
ity in  the  British  Islands  is  of  interest  to  all  the  English- 
speaking  world.  To  that  world,  too,  it  is  comparative- 
ly accessible  in  a  great  number  of  books  on  church 
history  and  to  some  extent  in  works  on  general  his- 
tory. Our  concern  at  present,  however,  is  only  with 
the  distinctively  missionary  aspect  of  the  subject. 
Christianity  came  to  England  long  before  the  English 
came,  and  it  occupied  a  territory  far  wider  than  that 
settled  by  the  Anglo-Saxons.     The  Celtic  race,  which 

257 


258  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

is  still  in  possession  of  Wales,  Ireland  and  Scotland, 
occupied  all  of  British  Europe  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era.  The  Britons  of  what  is  now  Eng- 
land, came  completely  under  the  sway  of  the  Roman 
Empire  by  the  middle  of  the  first  century.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  there  were  believers  in  Christ  among  the 
conquering  legions  of  Claudius.  Legendary  history 
ascribes  the  first  introduction  of  Christianity  to  at  least 
ten  different  agencies,  of  which  the  Apostle  Paul  is 
one.  There  is  no  absolute  proof  of  any  of  these 
legends. 

278.  As  late  as  the  time  of  Ireneeus  at  Lyons,  A.  D. 
185,  there  is  no  knowledge  that  Christianity  had  been 
planted  in  Britain.  But  by  the  year  208  Tertullian  said 
that  "places  in  Britain  not  yet  visited  by  Romans  were 
subject  to  Christ."  Toward  the  end  of  the  second 
century,  then,  missionaries,  to  us  unknown,  had  carried 
the  name,  and,  to  some  extent,  the  sway  of  Christ  far 
afield  among  the  Britons. 

In  the  year  314  five  British  delegates  attended  the 
Council  of  Aries.  A  larger  number  appear  to  have 
been  present  at  the  Council  of  Ariminium  forty-five 
years  later.  This  is  all  that  is  known  positively  con- 
cerning the  progress  of  the  gospel  among  the  Britons. 
Gildas,  the  first  writer  of  British  church  affairs,  draws 
a  very  pessimistic  picture  of  the  state  of  religion  in 
his   day,    the   sixth   century. 

It  is  commonly  thought  that  the  propagation  of 
Christianity  was  confined  largely  to  the  Romanized 
portion  of  the  people  who  lived  about  the  centers  of 
population   and   civilization.     When  the   English   in- 


BRITAIN,   IRELAND   AND   SCOTLAND.  259 

vaded  and  settled  the  land,  they  destroyed  or  banished 
the  Romano-Celtic  people,  civilization  and  religion, 
occupying  all  England  anew  with  raw  paganism.  The 
remnants  of  Christianity  were  driven  with  surviving 
Britons  into  Wales.  There,  doubtless,  missionaries 
had  introduced  the  faith  long  before.  There  is  a  mass 
of  legend  about  the  conversion  of  Celtic  England  and 
Wales,  but  no  trustworthy  history. 

Early  British  Christianity  furnished  Christendom 
one  gifted  man  who  made  a  profound  and  permanent 
impression  on  Christian  thought,  Pelagius.  His  rela- 
tion to  the  general  missionary  history  of  the  world 
belongs  to  a  later  chapter.  But  we  have  no  details  of 
his  British  life. 

279.  It  is  when  we  cross  the  Irish  Channel  that  we 
come  to  the  first  brilliant  chapter  in  the  history  of  mis- 
sions among  the  Celtic  peoples  of  the  British  Islands. 
The  conversion  of  Ireland  was  probably  a  fruit  of 
the  preceding  obscure  period,  for  the  trend  of  com- 
petent judgment  is  that  the  apostle  of  Ireland  was  a 
Briton.  The  name  of  the  birthplace  of  Patrick  is 
given  us  in  his  own  writings.  But  where  it  was 
scholars  cannot  be  sure.  It  was  probably  near  the 
present  Kilpatrick,  between  Glasgow  and  Dumbarton. 
His  parents  and  grandparents  were  Christians  of  the 
old  British  stock.  Christianity  had  gained  some  foot- 
hold probably  in  Ireland  long  before  Patrick's  day. 
But  he  is  the  first  of  whom  we  have  record  to  do  a 
large  and  permanent  work.  It  was  such  a  phenomen.il 
work  that  legends  without  number  have  gathered 
about  it,    But  we  have  two  writings  which  critics  of 


260  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

all  schools  are  agreed  in  recognizing  as  from  the  hand 
of  Patrick  himself,  his  "Confession"  or  autobiograph- 
ical sketch  and  his  "Epistle  to  Coroticus,"  an  expos- 
tulation with  that  British  prince,  who  was  possibly  a 
nominal  Christian,  for  allowing  his  soldiers  to  capture 
and  sell  into  slavery  many  of  the  Irish  converts.  There 
are  one  or  two  other  documents  treating  of  Patrick's 
life  which  are  of  sufficiently  ancient  origin  to  be  of  real 
use  in  understanding  the  facts.  Whether  born  in  Gaul 
or  in  Britain,  he  had  early  Christian  influences.  The 
first  sentence  of  his  "Confession"  is  as  follows : 

"I,  Patrick,  a  sinner,  the  rudest  and  least  of  all  the  faithful, 
and  most  contemptible  to  very  many,  had  for  my  father  Cal- 
pornius,  a  deacon,  the  son  of  Potitus,  a  priest,  who  lived  in 
Bannaven  Tabernia?,  for  he  had  a  small  country-house  close 
by,  where  I  was  taken  captive  when  I  was  nearly  sixteen  years 
of  age." 

280.  He  was  sold  into  slavery  and  served  Milcho,  a 
chieftain  in  what  is  now  County  Antrim.  His  work 
was  that  of  a  shepherd  and  a  cow-boy.  In  this  life  of 
solitary  toil  and  exposure  his  religious  nature  devel- 
oped into  great  intensity.     He  says : 

"But  after  I  had  come  to  Ireland,  I  was  daily  tending  sheep, 
and  I  prayed  frequently  during  the  day,  and  the  love  of  God, 
and  His  faith  and  fear,  increased  in  me  more  and  more,  and 
the  spirit  was  stirred;  so  that  in  a  single  day  I  have  said  as 
many  as  a  hundred  prayers,  and  in  the  night  nearly  the  same; 
so  that  I  remained  in  the  woods,  and  on  the  mountain,  even  be- 
fore the  dawn,  I  was  roused  to  prayer,  in  snow,  and  ice,  and 
rain,  and  I  felt  no  injury  from  it,  nor  was  there  any  slothful- 
ness  in  me,  as  I  see  now,  because  the  spirit  was  then  fervent  in 
me." 

281.  He  dreamed  of  libertv  and  followed  his  vision 


BRITAIN,   IRELAND  AND   SCOTLAND.  26l 

to  the  coast  where,  at  first  refused,  he  finally  obtained 
a  chance  to  work  his  passage.  It  appears  to  have  been 
in  a  trading-boat  which  had  for  a  part  of  its  cargo 
Irish  hunting  dogs  which  were  at  that  time  highly 
esteemed  in  the  Orient.  After  landing  on  the  coast  of 
Gaul  the  caravan  had  to  pass  through  a  desolate  wil- 
derness region,  where  it  was  almost  impossible  to  ob- 
tain provisions.  Some  of  the  dogs  perished  by  the 
way  for  want  of  food.  This  journey  with  pagan  com- 
rades proved  to  be  the  very  missionary  opportunity 
for  which  he  had  been  longing.    Let  him  tell  the  story 

himself : 

"I  hoped  of  them  that  they  would  come  into  the  faith  of 
Jesus  Christ,  for  they  were  Gentiles ;  and  this  I  obtained  from 
them ;  and  after  three  days,  we  reached  land,  and  for  twenty- 
eight  days  we  journeyed  through  a  desert,  and  their  provisions 
failed,  and  they  suffered  greatly  from  hunger ;  and  one  day  the 
master  began  to  say  to  me:  'What  sayest  thou,  O  Christian? 
Your  God  is  great  and  all-powerful ;  why  canst  thou  not,  then, 
pray  for  us,  since  we  are  perishing  with  hunger,  and  may 
never  see  the  face  of  man  again?'  And  I  said  to  them  plainly: 
'Turn  sincerely  to  the  Lord  my  God,  to  whom  nothing  is  im- 
possible, that  He  may  send  us  food  on  your  way  until  ye  are 
satisfied,  for  it  abounds  everywhere  for  Him.'  And  with  God's 
help  it  was  so  done  ;  for,  lo  !  a  flock  of  swine  appeared  in  the  way 
before  our  eyes,  and  they  killed  many  of  them,  and  remained 
there  two  nights,  much  refreshed  and  filled  with  their  flesh; 
for  many  of  the  dogs  had  been  left  exhausted  by  the  wayside. 
After  this,  they  gave  the  greatest  thanks  to  God,  and  I  was 
honored  in  their  eyes.  .  .  .  They  also  found  wild  honey, 
and  offered  me  some  of  it,  and  one  of  them  said:  'This  is 
offered  in  sacrifice,  thanks  be  to  God' ;  after  this  I  tasted  no 
more." 
282.  Patrick  was  always  given  to  dreaming,  but  any 


262  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

vigorous  young  man  of  twenty-four,  after  days  of 
scanty  food  followed  by  a  bountiful  feast  of  pork  and 
honey,  might  have  had  the  nightmare  as  he  did.  But 
it  could  have  taken  the  Biblical  form  that  it  did  take 
only  in  the  mind  of  a  man  whose  waking  thoughts 
were  filled  with  ideas  from  the  Scriptures. 

"But  the  same  night,  while  I  was  sleeping,  I  was  strongly 
tempted  by  Satan  (of  which  I  shall  be  mindful  as  long  as  I 
shall  be  in  this  body),  and  there  fell,  as  it  were,  a  great  stone 
upon  me,  and  there  was  no  strength  in  my  limbs.  And  then 
it  came  into  my  mind,  I  know  not  how,  to  call  upon  Elias,  and 
at  the  same  moment  I  saw  the  sun  rising  in  the  heavens ;  and 
while  I  cried  out  Elias  with  all  my  might,  behold !  the  splendor 
of  the  sun  was  shed  upon  me,  and  immediately  shook  from  me 
all  heaviness.  And  I  believe  that  Christ  my  Lord  cried  out 
for  me ;  and  I  hope  that  it  will  be  so  in  the  day  of  my  adver- 
sity, as  the  Lord  testifies  in  the  Gospel :  'It  is  not  you  that 
speak,'  etc." 

He  hints  at  a  number  of  thrilling  adventures  which 
he  had  in  regions  which  we  know  had  been  and  con- 
tinued to  be  overrun  by  barbarians.  He  remained  some 
years  on  the  continent  and  probably  there  learned 
much  of  the  crude  Latin  in  which  he  afterward  wrote. 
There  are  indications  which  point  strongly  to  the 
monastic  school  of  Martin  of  Tours  as  the  source  of 
his  training,  such  as  he  had.  As  confirmatory  of  the 
reasons  which  scholars  commonly  adduce  pointing  to 
a  relationship  between  Patrick  and  the  school  of  Mar- 
tin, we  may  note  for  ourselves  the  fact  observed  in  the 
chapter  on  France,  that  the  school  of  Martin  was  a 
hot-bed  of  missionary  activity.  Martin  himself  was 
noted  for  unflagging  zeal  to  the  end  of  his  life.  It 
must  have  been  just  before  he  passed  away,  if  at  all, 


BRITAIN,   IRELAND   AND   SCOTLAND.  263 

that  Patrick  came  in  contact  with  him.  Directly  or 
indirectly,  Patrick  caught  up  the  missionary  torch 
which  had  turned  the  country  people  of  Western  and 
Northern  Gaul  from  darkness  to  light. 

283.  From  what  we  have  learned  of  his  nature  and 
his  experience,  we  can  not  be  surprised  at  his  vivid 
call  to  missionary  work,  at  the  method  of  the  call,  or 
at  the  field  to  which  he  felt  himself  appointed. 

"And  again,  after  a  few  years,  I  was  with  my  relations  in 
Britain,  who  received  me  as  a  son,  and  earnestly  besought  me 
that  then,  at  least,  after  I  had  gone  through  so  many  tribula- 
tions, I  would  go  nowhere  from  them.  And  there  I  saw,  in  the 
midst  of  the  night,  a  man  who  appeared  to  come  from  Ireland, 
whose  name  was  Victoricus,  and  he  had  innumerable  letters 
with  him,  one  of  which  he  gave  to  me;  and  I  read  the  com- 
mencement of  the  epistle  containing  'The  Voice  of  the  Irish' ; 
and  as  I  read  aloud  the  beginning  of  the  letter  I  thought  I 
heard  in  my  mind  the  voice  of  those  who  were  near  the  wood 
of  Focluti,  which  is  near  the  western  sea;  and  they  cried  out: 
'We  entreat  thee,  holy  youth,  to  come  and  walk  still  amongst 
us.'  And  my  heart  was  greatly  touched,  so  that  I  could  not 
read  any  more,  and  so  I  awoke.  Thanks  be  to  God  that,  after 
very  many  years,  the  Lord  hath  granted  them  their  desire! 

"And  on  another  night,  whether  in  me  or  near  me  God 
knows,  I  heard  eloquent  words  which  I  could  not  understand 
until  the  end  of  the  speech,  when  it  was  said :  'He  who  gave 
His  life  for  thee  is  He  who  speaks  in  thee' ;  and  so  I  awoke 
full  of  joy." 

284.  Sailing  to  Ireland  in  obedience  to  the  heavenly 
vision,  Patrick  landed  first  at  Wicklow,  but  was  driven 
off  by  the  pagans.  He  sailed  northward  and  entered 
Strangford  Lough,  in  County  Down,  landing  near 
the  end  of  its  southern  arm.  The  local  chief,  Dichu, 
was  won  to  Christ  and  gave  the  use  of  his  barn  to  be 


264  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

the  first  meeting-place  of  the  disciples.  The  Celtic 
word  for  barn,  Sabhall,  has  been  contracted  into  Saul, 
which  designates  to  this  day  the  place,  between  Down- 
patrick  and  the  shore  of  the  lough,  where  stood  the 
first  Christian  meeting-house  in  Ireland. 

The  missionary's  heart  yearned  for  the  conversion 
of  his  old  master  and  he  went  northward  with  that 
end  in  view.  But  Milcho  utterly  rejected  the  gospel 
brought  by  his  former  slave. 

285.  Patrick  moved  next  on  Tara,  a  stronghold  of 
paganism  on  the  plain  of  Meath.  Laeghaire  was  one 
of  the  most  influential  chieftains  in  Ireland.  He  had 
assembled  at  his  capital,  Tara,  a  solemn  council  of 
under-chiefs.  On  such  a  state  occasion  no  fire  was  to 
be  kindled  anywhere  before  that  on  the  king's  own 
altars  on  Tara  hill.  Twelve  miles  northeast  across  the 
plain  rose  Slane  hill.  There  Patrick  on  Easter  eve 
kindled  a  fire.  It  was  plainly  seen  at  Tara.  The  sacred 
customs  of  the  people  were  outraged  and  angry  sum- 
mons was  sent  to  Patrick.  But  he  bore  himself  so 
well  in  the  presence  of  the  ruler,  that  permission  was 
given  him  to  preach  and  Laeghaire  himself  was  con- 
verted, along  with  many  others.  Ten  miles  northeast 
of  Tara  lived  a  brother  of  Lseghaire,  who  was  con- 
verted. Like  the  wise  missionary  that  he  was,  Patrick 
seized  the  occasion  of  a  great  gathering  there  for  pub- 
lic games  and  sports  to  preach  Christ.  Numbers  were 
converted. 

It  is  certain  from  his  own  writings  that  he  presented 
his  mission  work  all  the  way  across  the  island  to  the 
"Western  Sea"  near  Killala  Bay,    After  a  time  he 


BRITAIN,   IRELAND  AND   SCOTLAND.  265 

was  back  again  destroying  the  most  sacred  idols  of 
the  country  in  Cavan  and  founding  a  church  at  Ar- 
magh. There  is  no  authentic  account  of  his  working 
in  the  southern  quarter  of  Ireland.  But,  beginning 
about  the  year  400,  he  did  for  half  a  century  the  work 
of  a  pioneer  missionary  and  founder  of  Christian 
churches  and  schools. 

He  was  as  truly  the  apostle  of  Ireland  as  any  one 
man  has  ever  been  of  a  whole  country.  Without  put- 
ting confidence  in  the  statements  of  the  precise  num- 
ber of  thousands  of  converts  assigned  by  biographers 
to  one  place  and  another,  we  have  from  his  own  pen  a 
reference  to  spiritual  sons  "many  thousands  of  whom 
I  have  baptized  in  the  Lord." 

286.  It  is  a  mistake  for  any  modern  sect  to  claim 
Patrick  as  belonging  to  itself — the  Presbyterians  be- 
cause he  ordained  presbyters,  the  Baptists  because  he 
immersed,  the  Romanists  because  he  established 
monasteries.  All  Christians  had  presbyters,  all  im- 
mersed, all  believed  in  monasticism  in  those  days. 

The  authentic  records  do  not  indicate  that  Patrick 
had  any  connection  with  the  Pope  or  with  popery, 
though  doubtless  he  shared  the  common  respect  of 
the  old  Roman  world.  The  modern  Romish  sect 

did  not  then  exist.  Patrick's  grandfather  was  a  mar- 
ried priest.  There  is  no  auricular  confession,  no 
adoration  of  Mary,  no  extreme  unction  in  the  reliable 
records  of  his  life. 

287.  The  most  striking  feature  in  his  own  writings 
is  the  frequent  quotation  of  Scripture.     The  quota- 


266  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

tions  are  from  a  translation  earlier  than  the  Vulgate. 
In  the  "Book  of  Armagh,"  which  contains  his  writings 
and  the  other  early  accounts  of  him,  there  are  besides 
only  a  life  of  Martin  of  Tours  and  a  New  Testament. 
This  is  the  Latin  Vulgate  with  the  preface  of  Jerome, 
the  translator,  and  is  the  earliest  copy  of  the  Scrip- 
tures in  the  British  world.  It  is  forever  significant 
that  the  life  of  a  preceding  missionary  and  a  copy  of 
the  New  Testament  should  be  bound  up  with  the  prim- 
itive accounts  of  the  first  distinguished  missionary  in 
the  British  Islands. 

Among  the  documents  about  Patrick  in  the  Book 
of  Armagh  is  a  hymn  attributed  to  him,  composed  for 
a  kind  of  Christian  incantation  against  the  sorceries  of 
the  heathen.  It  is  possible  that  he  wrote  it.  It  is  the 
oldest  literary  composition  that  we  have  in  the  Irish 
Celtic  tongue  and  it  reflects  the  simple  Christian  faith 
which  Patrick  planted.  The  following  is  a  stanza  out 
of  the  heart  of  it : 

"5.  I  bind  to  myself  to-day, — 

The  Power  of  God  to  guide  me, 
The  Might  of  God  to  uphold  me, 
The  Wisdom  of  God  to  teach  me, 
The  Eye  of  God  to  watch  over  me, 
The  Ear  of  God  to  hear  me, 
The  Word  of  God  to  give  me  speech, 
The  Hand  of  God  to  protect  me, 
The  Way  of  God  to  go  before  me, 
The  Shield  of  God  to  shelter  me, 
The  Host  of  God  to  defend  me, 
Against  the  snares  of  demons, 


BRITAIN,   IRELAND  AND   SCOTLAND.  267 

Against  the  temptations  of  vices, 

Against  the  lusts  of  nature, 

Against  every  man  who  meditates  injury  to  me, 

Whether  far  or  near, 

With  few  or  with  many." 

288.  Concerning  other  evangelizers  of  Ireland  noth- 
ing definite  is  known.  Palladius,  was  one  of  them.  Ac- 
cording to  some  traditions  he  preceded  Patrick.  He 
is  often  confused  with  Patrick.  He  probably  came 
afterwards.  It  is  quite  likely  that  he  had  a  commis- 
sion from  the  Pope. 

Brigida  (Bridget,  Bride)  was  born  a  few  years  be- 
fore the  death  of  Patrick  and  became  the  founder  of 
many  monasteries.  In  those  days  co-education  was 
the  rule.  Monks  and  nuns  studied,  taught  and  lived 
in  the  same  institution.  A  monastery  was  not  one 
great  building,  but  a  collection  of  humble  cottages 
around  a  central  church  and  a  dining-room-lecture- 
hall.  It  was  more  like  John  Eliot's  Christian  Indian 
villages.  It  was  a  center  from  which  devoted  men  and 
women  evangelized  and  educated  the  surrounding- 
pagan  territory.  It  was  a  university  settlement.  Brig- 
ida  was  the  foremost  woman  in  this  work.  But  noth- 
ing authentic  as  to  details  of  her  work  has  come  down 
to  us,  only  a  worthless  mass  of  superstition-laden  tra- 
ditions. If  we  could  have  as  much  unmistakable 
record  as  we  have  of  Patrick,  we  should  doubtless  find 
her  worthy  of  the  place  which  she  has  held  in  the 
Irish  heart  for  fourteen  hundred  years. 

Patrick  and  Brigida  raised  up  hundreds,  indirectly 


268  TWO    THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

thousands,  of  missionary  workers  who  not  only  turned 
Ireland  to  Christ,  but  made  it  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  after  Patrick's  death  the  greenest  spot  in 
Christendom.  It  was  freest  from  outside  ecclesiastical 
domination  and  was  also  the  brightest  center  of  Chris- 
tian learning.  Best  of  all  it  became  the  great  home- 
land of  missionary  activity  for  the  conversion  of  pagan 
and  of  re-paganized  Europe.  In  these  particulars  the 
England  and  Ireland  of  our  day  have  exchanged  places 
as  compared  with  the  early  days. 

289.  Ireland  was  the  original  home  of  the  Scots. 
Our  Scotland  was  Caledonia.  The  Scots  of  Ireland 
gradually  settled  and  dominated  Caledonia,  giving 
their  name  to  the  country.  It  was  not  till  the  tenth 
century  that  Scotia  became  the  name  of  all  North  Brit- 
ain. Scotland  received  not  only  her  dominant  race 
and  name  but  also  her  religion  chiefly  from  Ireland. 

290.  The  first  missionaries,  however,  were  of  the 
Roman  Britons.  The  name  of  one  of  them,  Ninian, 
has  survived  with  great  honor  in  Scotland.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  been  of  a  noble  Welsh  Christian  family. 
His  desire  to  visit  Rome  was  granted.  There  he  studied 
for  years  and  was  ordained.  Returning  through  Gaul 
he  visited  Tours  and  caught  the  missionary  fire  from 
the  aged  Martin,  who  even  supplied  him  with  me- 
chanics to  build  a  church.  This  he  did  at  Whithorn 
On  one  of  the  northern  heads  of  Solway  Firth.  It  is 
reputed  to  have  been  the  first  stone  meeting-house  in 
Scotland.  It  came  to  be  known  as  the  White  House. 
Around  it  gathered  the  monastic  village,  which  was  a 
center  of  evangelization  from  about  the  year  400.  The 


BRITAIN,    IRELAND   AND  SCOTLAND.  269 

results,  however,  seem  to  have  been  largely  oblit- 
erated in  the  troublous  times  which  followed  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Roman  troops  from  Britain. 

291.  More  than  one  hundred  years  after  the  death 
of  Ninian  another  Welsh  Briton,  Kentigern,  was  or- 
dained by  a  bishop  called  over  from  Ireland  for  the 
purpose.  With  Glasgow  as  a  center  Kentigern  made 
missionary  tours  on  foot  through  a  wide  stretch  of 
country.  He  reclaimed  the  lapsed  and  preached  the 
gospel  to  the  unchristianized.  Pagan  hostility  drove 
him  out  of  the  country  for  a  time,  but  he  obtained 
permission  to  found  a  missionary  colony  in  North 
Wales.  When  political  changes  enabled  him  to  re- 
turn to  the  Kingdom  of  Strathclyde,  he  resumed  his 
work  there  and  became  the  leading  personality  in  the 
permanent  planting  of  Christianity  in  Southern  Scot- 
land. He  left  in  charge  of  the  work  in  North  Wales 
one  of  his  pupils,  from  whom  the  institution  received 
its  name,  St.  Asaph.  Hoddam  in  Dumfries  and  Glas- 
gow were  the  chief  centers  of  Kentigern's  later  apos- 
tolic labors. 

The  event  in  the  life  of  Kentigern  which  warms  the 
imagination  most  is  his  meeting,  about  the  year  584, 
with  another  aged  and  most  revered  missionary  who 
was  the  apostle  of  Northern  Scotland,  Columba. 
These  veterans  of  the  cross  are  said  to  have  met,  each 
with  a  retinue  of  fellow-workers  singing  psalms  of 
faith  and  victory.  They  embraced  and  kissed  each 
other  and  held  sweet  communion  together.  Before 
separating  they  exchanged  the  staves  with  which  they 
had  made  their  missionary  journeys. 


27O  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

292.  Columba  is  the  best-known  missionary  to  Scot- 
land. He  was  born  in  Ireland  of  princely  stock  on 
both  sides.  His  great-great-grandfather  was  Niall, 
monarch  of  Ireland.  On  his  mother's  side  he  was  de- 
scended from  Cathseir  Mor,  King  of  Leinster.  His 
high  connections  had  not  a  little  to  do  with  his  career. 
He  was  educated  by  the  best  teachers  of  Ireland.  One 
of  his  schoolmates  was  Comgall,  afterward  the  head 
of  the  famous  institution  at  Bangor.  Columba  founded 
several  monastic  communities  in  Ireland,  including 
Derry  and  Durrow.  It  was  not  until  he  was  forty-two 
years  of  age  that  he  engaged  in  foreign  missions.  Then 
he  embarked  with  twelve  companions  in  a  currach,  a 
boat  of  wicker  framework  covered  with  hides,  and 
sailed  northward  to  the  coast  of  Argylshire,  Scotland. 
Here,  on  the  island  of  Hy,  or  Iona,  three  miles  long 
and  a  mile  wide,  he  founded  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated missionary  settlements  of  history,  A.  D.  563. 
It  was  near  the  borders  between  the  Scots  and  the 
Picts.  The  former  were  nominal  Christians.  The 
latter,  as  their  name  signified,  were  painted  savages. 
Among  them  Columba  and  his  comrades  went  near 
and  far  carrying  the  gospel.  They  planted  Christian 
institutions  on  the  islands  and  the  mainland  up  and 
down  the  northwestern  coast,  including  the  Isle  of 
Skye. 

293.  They  crossed  the  mountains  and  confronted 
King  Bruide  near  Inverness.  At  first  he  closed  his 
gates  against  the  missionaries,  but  later  he  gave  them 
a  hearing  and  was  himself  converted.  There  was  a 
decade  of  earnest  work  in  northeastern  Scotland,  re- 


BRITAIN,    IRELAND   AND    SCOTLAND.  2Jl 

suiting  in  the  firm  planting  of  Christianity  there.  One 
of  the  most  efficient  missionaries  in  the  region  of 
Aberdeenshire  was  Drostan,  or  Dunstan,  a  nephew  of 
Columba.  On  the  departure  of  his  superior,  who  left 
him  to  prosecute  the  work  in  that  wild  region,  Dros- 
tan wept  so  grievously  that  his  tears  gave  name  to  the 
missionary  settlement  there,  Dears  or  Deer.  The 
name  is  a  monument,  not  to  the  weakness,  but  to  the 
heroism  required  to  establish  Christianity  in  the  land 
of  the  painted  barbarians.  Drostan  braved  it  out  and 
planted  churches  all  over  Northern  Scotland. 

294.  One  of  the  rules  of  the  missionary  establish- 
ment at  Iona  was  obedience  "even  unto  death."  So 
Scotland  was  conquered  for  Christ,  to  become  a 
stronghold  of  the  faith  in  ages  yet  unborn.  Columba 
means  dove,  but  the  bearer  of  the  name  is  said  to 
have  been  given  another  name  also  at  his  baptism, 
Crimthann,  which  means  wolf.  His  fond  biographers 
say  little  of  that.  But  he  was  a  fighter  as  well  as  a 
bringer  of  good  tidings  of  peace.  He  promoted  more 
than  one  battle  among  the  Irish  clans.  According  to 
some  accounts  he  was  banished  from  Ireland  as  a  re- 
sult of  one  of  them  and  enjoined  by  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority to  make  as  many  converts  from  paganism  as 
he  had  caused  Christians  to  be  slain  in  battle.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  he  was  not  banished,  for  he  returned 
from  time  to  time,  and  kept  control,  to  the  end,  of  the 
institutions  which  he  had  founded  there  in  the  first 
half  of  his  life.  He  is  said  to  have  been  of  noble  ap- 
pearance. He  certainly  had  the  gifts  of  imperious 
leadership.     He  had  also  marked  literary  tastes.     Late 


272  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

in  life  he  visited  Ireland  to  attend  a  council  at  which 
the  suppression  of  the  bards  who  traveled  in  troops 
about  the  country  was  discussed.  One  of  his  favorite 
teachers  in  youth  had  been  a  bard,  and  Columba  de- 
fended the  order  so  well  that  it  was  not  suppressed, 
but  only  restricted.  At  Iona  he  spent  much  time  in 
writing,  and  made  the  copying  of  manuscripts  a  prom- 
inent feature  of  the  work  of  the  institution.  The  pro- 
duction of  copies  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  other  books 
for  the  numerous  mission  stations  was  an  important 
part  of  the  whole  undertaking.  The  last  work  of 
Columba,  after  thirty-four  years  of  magnificent  mis- 
sionary service,  according  to  the  methods  of  the  time, 
was  the  transcription  of  Scripture.  It  was  the  thirty- 
fourth  Psalm.  He  wrote  as  far  as  the  words,  "They 
who  seek  the  Lord  shall  want  no  manner  of  thing  that 
is  good."  At  that  point  he  said,  "I  think  that  I  shall 
write  no  more."  Between  midnight  and  dawn  of  Sun- 
day morning,  June  9th,  597,  he  was  found  dead  on 
the  pavement  before  the  altar  in  the  church. 

So  profound  was  the  impression  of  Columba  and 
his  mission  establishment  on  the  British  Islands  that 
for  many  generations  all  the  kings  of  Scotland  and 
many  of  other  parts  were  brought  to  Iona  for  burial 
beside  their  great  apostle. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ENGLAND. 

295.  Sources  of  English  Christianity.  296.  The  fa- 
mous missionary  puns.  297.  England's  apostle  who 
never  saw  England.  298.  The  Roman  missionaries  landing 
on  Thanet.  299.  King  Ethelbert's  hospitable  visit  there. 
300.  Established  at  Canterbury.  301.  The  king's  con- 
version and  Gregory's  joy.  302.  Agency  of  women  in 
the  conversion  of  Teutonic  peoples.  303.  Edwin  of 
Northumbria  is  well  disposed.  304-  Witenagemot  to 
discuss  Christianity.  305.  Destruction  of  the  idols. 
306.  The  Northumbrian  apostle.  307.  East  Angles,  East 
Saxons,  Middle  Angles  and  Mercians.  308.  West  Sax- 
ons. 309.  Celtic  missionaries  brought  to  Northumbria. 
310.  King  Oswald  Missionary  Aiden's  interpreter.  311. 
Earnestness  of  the  Celtic  missionaries.  312.  Their  wide 
work  in  England.  313.  The  great  English  apostle  of  the 
last  of  the  tribes  to  be  converted.  314.  The  South  Sax- 
ons won.        315.  Importance  of  the  work. 

295.  Englishmen  did  not  to  any  large  extent  re- 
ceive the  gospel  directly  from  the  Britons  whom  they 
had  conquered.  They  either  slew  or  enslaved  them 
or  drove  them  into  Wales.  The  hatred  and  contempt 
were  too  great  on  both  sides  for  any  attempt  to  im- 
part or  to  receive  spiritual  influences.  After  Celtic 
Christianity  had  made  the  circuit  of  the  British 
Islands,  it  came  down  upon  England  from  the  North- 

273 


274  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

west  and  was  at  last  the  chief  factor  in  the  conversion 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  It  was  from  the  seed-bed  of 
Columba  that  most  of  England  was  planted  with  the 
gospel. 

But  before  the  germs  from  the  North  were  suffi- 
ciently mature  for  transplanting,  in  the  very  year  of 
the  death  of  Columba  himself,  there  was  a  noble  mis- 
sionary implantation  from  the  south,  from  Rome 
through  France.  It  was  one  of  the  notable  provi- 
dences in  history.  The  English  barbarians  had  slowly 
conquered  the  land  and  had  settled  upon  it  to  begin  a 
national  development.  It  was  time  for  this  raw  ma- 
terial of  the  world's  best  manhood  to  be  leavened  with 
spiritual  ideals;  for  this  coarse,  rough  energy  to  be 
charged,  suffused,  controlled  by  finer  forces.  The 
current  of  British  Christianity  was  too  much  insulated 
to  have  produced  the  full  effect  needed.  Then  it  was 
that  fresh  connection  was  made  with  the  continent  of 
Europe  and  directly  with  Rome,  the  central  battery  of- 
light  and  of  wide-sweeping  power.  Here  was  the  ac- 
cumulated storage  of  human  civilization.  The  turn- 
ing of  its  current  into  the  formative  years  of  the  Eng- 
lish nation  has  made  the  history  of  the  world  what  it 
could  not  otherwise  have  been  during  the  last  thou- 
sand years. 

296.  The  history  of  the  mission  of  Augustine  and 
the  conversion  of  England  has  been  retold  so  many 
times  that  it  will  be  more  useful  and  refreshing  to 
most  students  to  go  back  to  the  original  accounts  by 
the  Venerable  Bede  than  merely  to  add  one  more  to 
the   re-writings   of  it.     We   use  the   translations   by 


ENGLAND.  275 

Mason  and  by  Giles.  The  beautiful  opening  scene  is 
related  by  the  Venerable  Bede  himself  with  less  assur- 
ance as  to  its  historicity  than  is  assumed  in  most  of 
the  repetitions  of  the  story.  He  speaks  with  scholarly 
caution : 

"I  must  not  fail  to  mention  a  traditional  belief  concerning 
the  blessed  Gregory,  with  regard  to  the  incident  which  first 
prompted  him  to  take  such  pains  for  the  salvation  of  the  Eng- 
lish. It  is  said  that  one  day,  when  some  merchants  were 
newly  arrived,  and  many  articles  for  sale  were  collected  in  the 
forum,  and  many  purchasers  assembled,  Gregory  came  amongst 
the  rest,  and  saw,  amongst  other  objects,  some  boys  exposed 
for  sale,  with  fair  white  bodies  and  attractive  countenances, 
and  with  remarkable  heads  of  hair.  When  he  saw  them,  he 
enquired  (so  we  are  told)  from  what  district  or  country  they 
were  brought.  He  was  informed  that  it  was  from  the  Island 
of  Britain,  and  that  that  was  what  the  inhabitants  were  like. 
Again  he  enquired  whether  the  people  of  the  island  were  Chris- 
tians, or  were  still  wrapped  in  the  errors  of  heathenism.  He 
was  told  that  they  were  heathens.  He  heaved  a  long  sigh  or 
two  from  his  inmost  heart,  and  said:  'Alas,  the  pity!  that 
human  beings  with  such  bright  countenances  should  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  author  of  darkness,  and  that  such  a  graceful 
exterior  should  enclose  a  mind  destitute  of  grace  within  !'  So 
he  enquired  once  more  what  that  nation  was  called.  The 
answer  was,  'The  Angles.'  'Good,'  said  he ;  'they  have  the 
faces  of  Angels;  and  such  should  be  made  joint  heirs  with  the 
Angels  in  heaven.  What  is  the  name  of  the  particular  province 
these  boys   were   brought    from?'     The   an  5,     'iElli.' 

Playing  upon  the  name,  he  said,  'Alleluia,  the  praise  of  God 
our  Maker  must  be  sung  in  those  parts.' 

"So  he  went  to  the  Bishop  of  the  Apostolic  See  of  Rome  (he 
was  not  yet  Bishop  himself),  and  asked  him  to  send  some  min- 
isters of  the  word  to  the  English  nation  in  Britain,  to  convert 
them  to  Christ,  and  said  that  he  was  himself  prepared  to 
accomplish   the   task,   with   the   Lord's   help,   if   the   Apostolic 


276  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Pope  should  be  pleased  to  have  it  so.  As  he  was  unable  to 
accomplish  this  plan — for,  though  the  Bishop  was  willing  to 
grant  his  request,  the  citizens  of  Rome  could  not  bring  them- 
selves to  permit  him  to  withdraw  to  such  a  distance  from  the 
city — as  soon  as  he  came  to  discharge  the  office  of  Bishop  him- 
self, he  accomplished  the  long  wished-for  work ;  sending  others 
indeed  to  preach,  but  helping  the  preaching  to  bear  fruit,  by  his 
exhortations  and  by  his  prayers.  This  belief,  received  from 
ancient  sources,  I  have  deemed  it  suitable  to  incorporate  in 
this  Church  History." 

297.  The  forty  Benedictine  monks  whom 
Gregory  as  Pope  sent  to  be  missionaries  in 
England  became  so  frightened  by  the  ac- 
counts which  they  heard  on  the  way  as  to  the 
barbarism  of  the  English,  that  they  had  their  leader 
Augustine  return  to  Rome  "to  •  obtain  by  humble  en- 
treaty from  the  blessed  Gregory  that  they  might  not 
be  obliged  to  engage  upon  a  journey  so  perilous,  so 
barbarous,  so  uncertain."  But  the  determined  and 
vigorous  Pope  enjoined  them  to  lay  aside  their  fears 
and  do  the  work  appointed.  In  order  to  pave  the  way 
and  further  their  mission  he  wrote  letters  to  bishops, 
abbots,  a  noble,  two  kings  and  a  queen  in  Gaul.  These 
and  many  other  letters  copied  from  the  papal  registry 
of  letters  put  us  on  firm  ground  of  history  as  to  the 
mission  of  Augustine.  Whether  he  had  said  in  the 
market-place  the  bright,  prophetic  words  attributed 
to  him  and  later  offered  himself  as  a  missionary  to 
Britain  or  not,  it  is  certain  that,  when  Pope,  Gregory 
the  Great  was  the  moving  spirit  in  the  mission  of 
Rome  to  pagan  England.  The  apostolic  enthusiasm 
was  his ;  the  unretreating  energy  and  the  guiding  brain 
were  his. 


ENGLAND.  .  2JJ 

298.  In  the  pellucid  narrative  of  Bede  we  see  the 
self-respectful  and  at  the  same  time  liberal  bearing  of 
the  first  English  king  in  meeting  Christianity.  The 
success  of  the  mission  was  assured  with  such  a  recep- 
tion. 

"Fortified  therefore  by  the  encouragement  of  the  blessed 
Father  Gregory,  Augustine,  with  the  servants  of  Christ  who 
accompanied  him,  returned  to  the  work  of  the  Word;  and  he 
reached  Britain.  There  was  at  that  time  a  very  powerful  king 
in  Kent,  named  Ethelbert,  who  had  extended  the  bounds  of 
his  empire  as  far  as  to  the  great  river  Humber,  which  divides 
the  Southern  English  from  the  Northern.  Upon  the  eastern 
coast  of  Kent  there  is  an  island,  called  Thanet,  of  considera- 
ble size— that  is  to  say,  according  to  the  usual  English  reck- 
oning, of  six  hundred  families— separated  from  the  mainland 
by  the  river  Wantsome,  which  is  about  three  furlongs  broad 
and  only  to  be  crossed  in  two  places :  it  pushes  both  heads  into 
the  sea.  Upon  this  island  Augustine,  the  servant  of  the  Lord, 
came  ashore,  and  his  companions,  said  to  have  numbered 
about  forty  men.  They  had  taken,  as  they  were  bidden  by 
the  blessed  Pope  Gregory,  interpreters  of  Frank  nationality; 
and  Augustine  sent  to  Ethelbert,  informing  him  that  he  was 
come  from  Rome,  and  that  he  brought  the  best  of  messages, 
which  promised  with  absolute  certainty  to  those  who  obeyed 
it  eternal  joys  in  heaven,  and  that  they  should  reign  without 
end  with  the  living  and  true  God.  When  Ethelbert  heard  it, 
he  ordered  them  to  remain  in  the  island  to  which  they  had 
gone,  and  necessaries  to  be  supplied  to  them  until  he  saw  what 
to  do  with  them.  For  it  was  not  the  first  time  that  he  had 
heard  of  the  Christian  religion;  because,  in  fact,  he  had  a 
Christian  wife,  of  the  royal  family  of  the  Franks,  by  name 
Bertha;  who  had  been  given  to  him  by  her  parents  on  the 
understanding  that  she  should  be  allowed  to  maintain  without 
interference  the  system  of  her  faith  and  religion,  as  well  as  a 
bishop  named  Liudhard,  whom  they  had  given  her  as  a  helper 
of  her  faith. 


278  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

299.  Accordingly,  after  some  days,  the  King  came  to  the 
island,  and  taking  his  seat  in  the  open  air  he  ordered  Augustine 
with  his  companions  to  come  and  confer  with  him  there.  He 
had  been  careful  not  to  let  them  approach  him  in  any  house,  in 
obedience  to  an  old  saw,  for  fear  that  if  they  had  any  witch- 
craft they  might,  on  their  entrance,  get  the  better  of  him  and 
cheat  him.  But  they,  endowed  with  Divine  power,  not  with 
that  of  devils,  came  carrying  as  a  standard  a  silver  cross,  and 
a  picture  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  painted  on  a  panel ;  and  as 
they  came  they  sang  litanies  entreating  the  Lord  for  their  own 
eternal  salvation  and  that  of  those  for  whom  and  to  whom 
they  were  come.  And  when  at  the  King's  bidding  they  sat  and 
preached  the  word  of  life  to  him  and  to  all  his  courtiers  present 
the  King  replied,  saying:  'They  are  certainly  beautiful  words 
and  promises  that  you  bring;  but  because  they  are  new  and 
unproved,  I  cannot  give  my  adhesion  to  them  and  abandon 
what  I  have  so  long  held  in  common  with  the  whole  English 
race.  But  as  you  are  strangers  and  have  come  a  long  way  to 
this  country,  and  unless  my  observation  deceives  me,  your 
desire  was  to  impart  to  us  also  what  you  yourselves  believed 
to  be  true  and  good,  we  do  not  wish  to  be  unkind  to  you;  on 
the  contrary,  we  make  a  point  of  welcoming  you  with  friendly 
hospitality,  and  of  supplying  you  with  what  you  need  for  your 
maintenance ;  and  we  put  no  hindrance  in  the  way  of  your 
attaching  all  the  adherents  you  can  to  your  religious  faith  by 
means  of  your  preaching.' 

300.  Accordingly  he  gave  them  lodging  in  the  city  of  Can- 
terbury, which  was  the  capital  of  his  whole  empire ;  and,  as 
he  had  promised,  he  supplied  their  bodily  wants,  and  did  not 
withhold  from  them  leave  to  preach.  The  story  goes,  that 
as  they  approached  the  city,  according  to  their  custom,  with 
the  holy  Cross  and  the  picture  of  the  great  King,  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  they  intoned  in  unison  this  litany:  'We  beseech 
Thee,  O  Lord,  in  all  Thy  mercy,  that  Thy  fury  and  Thine 
anger  may  be  taken  away  from  this  city,  and  from  Thy  holy 
house;  because  we  have  sinned.     Alleluia.' 

As  soon  as  they  had  entered  upon  the  lodging  assigned  to 


ENGLAND.  279 

them,  they  began  to  imitate  the  apostolic  life  of  the  early 
Church ;  serving  God  with  continual  prayers,  watchings,  and 
fastings;  preaching  the  word  of  life  to  those  whom  they 
could  reach ;  putting  away  all  the  things  of  this  world  as  no 
concern  of  theirs  ;  receiving  from  those  whom  they  were  teach- 
ing nothing  but  what  was  thought  necessary  for  their  life; 
themselves  in  all  points  living  in  accordance  with  what  they 
taught,  and  having  a  mind  ready  to  suffer  any  adversities,  and 
even  to  die  for  the  truth  which  they  preached.  To  make  a 
long  story  short,  a  good  number  believed  and  were  baptized, 
wondering  at  their  simple  and  innocent  lives,  and  at  the  charm 
of  their  heavenly  doctrine.  There  was  near  the  city,  on  the 
eastern  side,  a  church  erected  in  old  days,  while  the  Romans 
were  still  in  Britain,  in  honor  of  St.  Martin,  where  the  Queen, 
who  was  (as  we  have  said)  a  Christian,  was  accustomed  to 
pray.  In  this  church  the  missionaries  also  at  the  outset  assem- 
bled to  sing,  to  pray,  to  celebrate  their  masses,  to  preach,  and 
to  baptize ;  until,  upon  the  King's  conversion  to  the  faith,  they 
received  a  wider  permission  to  preach  at  large,  and  to  build 
and  restore  churches. 

301.  Among  the  rest  the  King  himself  was  charmed  by  the 
pure  life  of  the  holy  men,  and  by  their  attractive  promises,  the 
truth  of  which  they  had  confirmed  by  showing  many  miracles. 
He  believed  and  was  baptized.  Thereupon  larger  numbers 
began  to  congregate  day  by  day  to  hear  the  word,  and  forsook 
the  heathen  system  to  attach  themselves  as  believers  to  the 
unity  of  Christ's  holy  Church.  Thankful  as  the  King  was  at 
their  faith  and  conversion,  it  is  said  that  he  would  compel  no 
man  to  embrace  Christianity;  only  he  met  believers  with  a 
specially  close  affection,  as  being  fellow-citizens  with  him  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven;  for  he  had  learned  from  the  teachers 
to  whom  he  owed  his  own  salvation,  that  the  service  of  Christ 
must  be  free,  and  not  of  constraint.  He  was  not  long  before 
he  presented  those  teachers  with  a  place  of  settlement  suitable 
to  their  condition  in  his  capital  of  Canterbury,  and  conferred 
upon  them  possessions  of  various  kinds  which  they  required." 

We  are  not  left  to  imagination  as  to  the  joy  of 


280  TWO   THOUSAND    YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

Gregory  in  the  success  of  his  mission.  He  sent  the 
news  afar,  writing  to  Eulogius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria 
in  Egypt,  and  to  others.     To  Augustine  himself  he 

writes : 

"Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  in  earth  peace  to  men  of 
goodwill ;  because  the  grain  of  corn  has  died,  falling  into  the 
earth,  and  has  borne  much  fruit,  that  it  might  not  reign  alone 
in  heaven.  .  .  .  Who  here  could  express  the  gladness 
which  has  arisen  in  the  hearts  of  all  the  faithful,  that  the 
English  nation,  by  the  operation  of  the  grace  of  Almighty  God 
and  by  your  labors,  brother,  has  had  the  darkness  of  error 
driven  away,  and  has  had  the  light  of  the  holy  faith  shed  upon 
it;  that  now  with  right  devotion  it  tramples  on  the  idols  under 
which  it  formerly  crouched  in  foolish  fear;  that  it  submits  to 
Almighty  God  with  a  pure  heart." 

This  letter  continues  at  length  and  is  occupied 
chiefly  with  insistent  advice  to  the  successful  mission- 
ary that  he  is  not  to  be  elated  overmuch  at  the  wonders 
which  God  has  enabled  him  to  perform,  but  to  keep 
very  lowly  in  spirit.  Gregory's  letters  to  Queen 
Bertha  and  to  King  Ethelbert  were  as  appropriate  and 
as  interesting  as  those  to  his  missionary  agent  Augus- 
tine. 

302.  In  the  conversion  of  Teutonic  peoples  a  marked 
place  is  occupied  by  women.  It  was  Clotilda  who  led 
Clovis,  "the  oldest  son  of  the  Church"  among  the 
Franks,  to  accept  Christ.  It  was  Bertha  who  prepared 
the  way  in  Ethelbert's  heart  and  court  for  the  recep- 
tion of  Christianity.  Now  as  we  cross  the  Humber 
to  witness  the  conversion  of  another  section  of  the 
English  race,  the  Northumbrians,  we  find  Ethelberga, 
the  daughter  of  Bertha,  an  important  actor.  Her 
father  had  become  the  first  Christian  ruler  of  Kent, 


ENGLAND.  28 1 

the  little  portion  of  England  settled  by  the  Jutes.  Her 
husband  was  to  become  the  first  Christian  ruler  of  a 
much  larger  section  of  England,  that  settled  by  the 
English  proper,  the  Angles.  It  had  been  agreed  in  the 
marriage  contract  of  her  mother  that  she  was  to  bring 
from  her  Frankish  home  a  Christian  minister.  Now 
it  was  stipulated  that  Ethelberga  was  to  take  from 
her  Kentish  home  a  Christian  minister  into  Northum- 
bria.  Paulinus  was  the  one  chosen.  He  had  been 
sent  by  Gregory  in  the  second  company  of  mission- 
aries to  Kent  twenty-four  years  before  this.  He  was 
well  seasoned  for  the  arduous  work  before  him. 

303.  In  the  vicissitudes  of  the  constant  English 
tribal  wars,  Edwin,  son  of  the  chieftain  of  North- 
umbria,  at  three  years  of  age  had  been  carried  for 
safety  to  Wales.  There  he  grew  up  under  the  tuition 
of  Christian  teachers  of  the  old  British  stock ;  but  he 
refused  to  accept  Christianity.  After  various  wan- 
derings and  perils  he  won  a  decisive  victory  in  the 
vicinity  of  Retford,  A.  D.  617,  which  put  him  on  his 
rightful  throne  and  made  him  a  ruler  over  a  wider 
realm  than  any  Englishman  had  ever  before  governed. 
It  reached  north  to  the  Firth  of  Forth,  where  he  built 
an  outpost,  Edwin's  burg  (Edinburgh).  Southward 
his  suzerainty  reached  to  the  kingdom  of  Kent.  It 
was  into  this  great  wild  region,  the  first  actual  Eng- 
land, that  Bertha  and  Paulinus  came  with  the  faith 
of  Christ. 

On  Easter  eve  of  the  year  626  an  envoy  of  the 
West-Saxons  tried  to  assassinate  Edwin.  An  attend- 
ant, Lilla  by  name,  threw  himself  between  the  king 


282  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

and  the  poisoned  dagger.  The  strong  Saxon  arm 
drove  the  two-edged  knife  through  the  body  of  Lilla 
so  far  as  to  wound  the  king.  But  Edwin's  life  was 
saved  by  the  giving  of  Lilla's  life.  The  same  night 
Edwin's  first  child  was  born  and  he  gave  thanks  to 
the  old  gods  of  the  English.  Paulinus  wisely  took 
advantage  of  this  day  of  intense  sensibility  to  urge 
the  claims  of  the  living  God,  telling  the  king  how  he 
had  been  praying  for  the  safety  of  mother  and  child 
in  the  name  of  Christ.  Edwin's  heart  was  touched 
and  he  allowed  the  baby  Eanfled  to  be  christened, 
promising  to  consider  carefully  the  claims  of  Chris- 
tianity upon  himself  as  soon  as  he  should  be  victo- 
rious over  the  wicked  West-Saxons.  Eanfled  and 
eleven  more  of  the  royal  household  were  baptized  at 
the  season  of  Pentecost,  the  first  in  Northumbria. 
The  fifty  days  had  been  sufficient  time  for  Edwin's 
wound  to  heal  and  he  at  once  set  out  against  the  West- 
Saxons,  whom  he  thoroughly  punished  for  their  per- 
fidy. On  returning,  Edwin  kept  his  word  and  gave 
prolonged,  careful  study  to  the  Christian  teaching. 
We  must  have  the  rest  of  the  story  in  the  words  of 
Bede,  who  belonged  to  this  part  of  England,  and  took 
every  opportunity  to  verify  his  facts. 

304.  "Still  he  said  that  he  would  confer  upon  the  point  with 
the  princes  his  friends,  and  with  his  counselors,  in  order  that  if 
their  sentiments  agreed  with  his  they  might  all  be  dedicated  to 
Christ  together  in  the  font  of  life.  With  the  approval  of 
Paulinus,  he  did  as  he  had  said.  Holding  a  Witenagemot,  he 
a<=ked  them  all,  one  by  one,  what  they  thought  of  this  teaching, 
never  before  known  to  them,  and  of  the  new  Divine  worship 
which  was  preached  to  them. 


ENGLAND.  283 

"His  head  priest,  Coifi,  immediately  answered :  'See  to  it 
yourself,  O  king,  what  manner  of  thing  this  is  which  is  now 
preached  to  us;  I  acknowledge  to  you  frankly,  what  I  have 
learned  beyond  a  doubt  that  there  is  no  power  and  no  profit 
whatever  in  the  religion  which  we  have  hitherto  held.  None 
of  your  people  has  given  himself  with  greater  pains  to  the 
service  of  our  gods  than  I ;  yet  there  are  many  who  receive 
larger  benefits  and  greater  dignities  from  you,  and  have  better 
luck  in  all  their  plans  of  doing  and  getting.  Now,  if  the  gods 
had  any  power,  they  would  rather  help  me,  their  more  devoted 
worshiper.  The  result  is  this :  if  on  examination  you  find 
that  the  new  things  now  preached  to  us  are  better  and  stronger, 
let  us  hasten  to  adopt  them  without  any  delay.' 

"This  advice  and  these  prudent  words  were  approved  by 
another  of  the  king's  thegns.  who  spoke  next,  and  added : 
'Man's  present  life  upon  earth,  O  king,  seems  to  me,  when 
compared  with  that  time  beyond,  of  which  we  know  nothing, 
to  be  like  as  if,  when  you  are  sitting  at  supper  with  your  alder- 
men and  thegns  in  the  winter  time,  and  a  fire  is  lighted  in  the 
middle  and  the  hall  is  warmed,  but  all  outside  storms  of 
wintry  rain  and  snow  raging,  some  sparrow  were  to  come  and 
fly  very  quickly  through  the  house,  in  at  one  door,  and  out  at 
another.  During  the  time  that  he  is  inside,  he  is  untouched 
by  the  wintry  storm,  but  when  that  little  moment  of  calm 
has  run  out,  he  passes  again  from  the  winter  into  the  winter, 
and  you  lose  sight  of  him.  So  this  life  of  then  appears  for  a 
little  while;  but  what  follows  it,  and  what  went  before  it,  we 
do  not  know  at  all.  So  if  this  new  teaching  has  brought  us 
anything  sure,  we  should  do  well,  I  think,  to  follow  it.'  The 
rest  of  the  aldermen  and  ot-  the  king's  counselors  by  God's 
instigation  followed  in  a  similar  strain. 

"Coifi  added  that  he  would  like  to  hear  Paulinus  speak  more 
explicitly  of  the  God  whom  he  preached.  When  at  the  king's 
commandment  he  did  so,  Coifi  hearing  his  words  cried  aloud  : 
T  saw  long  ago  that  what  we  worshiped  was  nothing  at  al!  : 
because  the  more  carefully  I  sought  for  the  truth  in  that 
worship  the  less  I  found  it.     But  now  I  openly  acknowledge 


284  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

that  in  this  preaching  shines  the  truth  which  is  able  to  give  us 
the  gifts  of  life,  and  health,  and  everlasting  happiness.  There- 
fore, I  propose,  O  king,  that  we  should  at  once  give  over  to 
ban  and  fire  the  temples  and  altars  which  we  have  consecrated 
to  no  profit.' 

305.  "To  make  a  long  story  short,  the  king  gave  his  adhesion 
openly  to  the  preaching  of  the  blessed  Paulinus,  and  renounc- 
ing idolatry  acknowledged  that  he  adopted  the  faith  of  Christ. 
And  when  he  asked  the  aforesaid  high  priest  of  his  sacrifices 
who  should  be  the  first  to  desecrate  the  idol  altars  and  tem- 
ples, with  the  inclosures  in  which  they  stood,  he  answered: 
T.  In  my  folly  I  worshiped  them,  and  who  rather  than  I 
should  set  an  example  to  all  by  destroying  them  in  the  wisdom 
given  me  by  the  true  God?'  Immediately  casting  away  vain 
superstition,  he  begged  the  king  to  give  him  armor  and  a 
stallion  horse,  to  ride  to  the  destruction  of  the  idols ;  for  the 
high  priest  had  not  been  allowed  to  carry  arms,  or  to  ride 
anything  but  a  mare.  So  he  was  girded  with  a  sword  and 
took  lance  in  hand,  and  mounting  the  king's  stallion,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  idols.  When  the  multitudes  saw  it,  they  thought 
him  mad.  As  soon  as  he  drew  near  the  temple,  he  flung  at  it 
the  lance  which  he  held,  and  desecrated  it  forthwith ;  and 
much  delighted  with  the  acknowledgment  of  the  worship  of 
the  true  God,  he  bade  his  companions  destroy  and  set  on  fire 
the  temple  and  all  its  inclosures.  The  place — the  former  place 
of  idols — is  shown  not  far  from  York,  toward  the  east,  the 
other  side  of  the  river  Derwent,  and  is  now  called  Goodman- 
ham,  where  the  high  priest,  by  inspiration  of  the  true  God, 
defiled  and  destroyed  'the  altars  which  he  had  himself  con- 
secrated.' 

"So  King  Edwin  received  the  faith  and  the  laver  of  holy 
regeneration,  together  with  all  the  nobles  of  his  nation  and  a 
very  great  number  of  the  people,  in  the  eleventh  year  of  his 
reign,  which  is  the  year  of  the  Lord's  Incarnation,  627,  about 
the  one  hundred  and  eightieth  year  from  the  arrival  of  the 
English  in  Britain.  He  was  christened  at  York,  on  the  holy 
day  of  Easter,  April  12,  in  the  church  of  the  Apostle  Peter, 


ENGLAND.  285 

which  he  built  there  hastily  of  wood,  while  he  was  a  cate- 
chumen under  instruction  for  his  baptism." 

306.  Paulinus  and  his  assistants  evangelized  North- 
umbria  in  both  its  northern  and  southern  provinces. 

"The  fervor  of  faith  and  the  desire  for  the  saving  laver  is 
said  to  have  been  so  great  at  that  time  in  the  Northumbrian 
people  that  on  one  occasion  when  Paulinus  came  with  the  king 
and  queen  to  the  king's  abode,  called  At  Veverin,  he  was  de- 
tained there  with  them  for  six  and  thirty  days,  engaged  in  the 
work  of  catechising  and  baptizing;  and  on  these  days  he  did 
nothing  else  all  day  from  morning  till  evening,  but  to  instruct 
the  people,  who  flocked  to  him  from  all  the  villages  and  places 
round,  in  Christ's  word  of  salvation,  and  after  the  instruction 
to  wash  them  with  the  laver  of  remission  in  the  river  Glen 
hard  by 

"This  was  what  happened  in  the  province  of  Bernicia;  in 
that  of  Deira,  where  ho  often  stayed  with  the  king,  he  used 
to  baptize  in  the  river  Swale,  which  flows  by  the  village  of 
Catterick.  For  the  Church  in  those  parts  was  only  beginning 
to  come  into  existence,  and  they  had  not  been  able  to  build 
chapels  or  baptisteries.  However,  at  Donfield,  where  the  king's 
abode  then  was,  he  made  a  basilica." 

The  mission  was  pressed  even  south  of  the  Humber. 

"In  regard  to  the  conversion  of  this  province  I  was  told  by 
a  presbyter  and  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  Partney,  a  man  of 
great  accuracy  of  statement,  named  Deda,  that  he  had  been 
informed  by  an  elderly  man  that  he  had  been  baptized  in  the 
middle  of  the  day  by  Bishop  Paulinus,  in  the  presence  of  King 
Edwin,  and  with  him  a  multitude  of  people,  in  the  river  Trent, 
near  a  city  which  is  called  in  English  Tiowulfingcaster.  This 
old  man  used  also  to  describe  the  appearance  of  Paulinus.  tbat 
he  was  a  man  of  tall  stature,  somewhat  bent,  with  black  hair, 
and  spare  face,  and  a  very  thin,  hooked  nose,  looking  at  the 
same  time  venerable  and  formidable.  He  had  with  him  as  his 
assistant  James  the  deacon,  a  truly  indefatigable  man,  and  re- 
nowned in  Christ  and  in  the  Church,  who  survived  to  our  own 
times." 


286  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

307.  The  mission  in  Northumbria  met  with  a  severe 
backset  when  Edwin  was  slain  and  his  kingdom  over- 
run by  inland  pagan  tribes  of  English.  The.mission  in 
Kent  had  had  reverses  on  the  death  of  Ethelbert.  The 
christianization  of  the  other  Anglo-Saxon  tribes  was 
marked  by  many  tips  and  downs.  The  chief  early  mis- 
sionaries among  the  East  Angles  were  Felix  of  Bur- 
gundy and  Fursey  of  Ireland .  Cedd  was  an  apostle 
among  the  East  Saxons.  The  Middle  Angles  were 
evangelized  largely  by  Celtic  workers,  of  whomDiuma 
and  Ceolloch  were  leaders.  The  Angles  who  had  set- 
tled farthest  in  the  interior  of  central  England  were 
called,  not  West  Angles,  as  we  might  expect  from  the 
other  names  current,  but  instead  Mercians,  i.  e.,  Border- 
men.  They  had  for  king  a  long  time  a  vigorous  war- 
rior and  ruler,  Penda.  He  was  a  bulwark  against 
Christianity.  But  in  his  old  age  even  Penda  allowed 
missionaries  to  work  among  his  people,  declaring  that 
his  only  real  hatred  was  against  those  who  did  not  live 
up  to  the  new  religion,  "who  put  their  faith  in  this  new 
God  and  then  did  not  trouble  themselves  to  obey  his 
commands."  The  Middle  Angles  were  under  his  sway 
and  it  was  their  missionaries  who  worked  among  the 
Mercians  proper. 

308.  In  southern  England  the  West  Saxons  were 
first  evangelized  by  Birinus,  who  had  been  sent  by  Pope 
Honorius  to  carry  the  gospel  into  sections  where  it  had 
not  yet  spread.  King  Cynegils  accepted  the  faith,  but 
his  son  and  successor,  Coinwalch,  rejected  it.  He  was 
married  to  Penda's  sister.  When  he  put  her  away, 
Penda  was  enraged  and  expelled  him  from  his  king- 


ENGLAND.  287 

dom.  While  in  exile  among  the  East  Saxons  he  was 
converted.  Later  he  regained  his  kingdom  and  for- 
warded there  the  missionary  work  of  Agilbert,  a 
Frenchman  who  "had  lived  a  long  time  in  Ireland  for 
the  purpose  of  reading  the  Scriptures"  and  "came  of 
his  own  accord  to  serve  this  king  and  preach  to  him  the 
word  of  life." 

309.  Agilbert's  connection  with  Ireland  brings  be- 
fore us  again  the  Celtic  influence  in  the  conversion  of 
England.  After  the  overthrow  of  Edwin  by  pagans, 
Paulinus  fled  southward  with  Queen  Ethelberga,  and 
Christianity  suffered  a  great  decline  among  the  half- 
converted  Northumbrians.  But  after  two  short  pagan 
reigns,  Oswald  came  to  the  throne.  He  had  been 
many  years  an  exile  and  had  been  much  in  contact 
with  the  Scot-Irish  mission  at  Iona,  where  he  was 
baptized.  Listen  once  more  to  Bede,  whose  testimony 
is  the  more  impressive  because  he  was  himself  in  favor 
of  the  Roman  as  contrasted  with  the  Celtic  form  of 
Christianity. 

"Oswald,  as  soon  as  he  ascended  the  throne,  being  desirous 
that  all  his  nation  should  receive  the  Christian  faith,  whereof 
he  had  found  happy  experience  in  vanquishing  the  barbarians, 
sent  to  the  elders  of  the  Scots,  among  whom  himself  and  his 
followers,  when  in  banishment,  had  received  the  sacrament 
of  baptism,  desiring  they  would  send  him  a  bishop,  by  whose 
instruction  and  ministry  the  English  nation,  which  he  gov- 
erned, might  be  taught  the  advantages,  and  receive  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  Christian  faith. 

It  is  reported  that  when  King  Oswald  had  asked  a  bishop 
of  the  Scots  to  administer  the  word  of  faith  to  him  and  his 
nation,  there  was  first  sent  to  him  another  man  of  more  aus- 
tere disposition,  who,  meeting  with  no  success,  and  being  un- 
regarded  by   the   English    people    returned   home,    and    in    an 


288  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

assembly  of  the  elders  reported  that  he  had  not  been  able  to 
do  any  good  to  the  nation  he  had  been  sent  to  preach  to,  be- 
cause they  were  uncivilized  men,  and  of  a  stubborn  and  bar- 
barous disposition.  They,  as  is  testified,  in  a  great  council, 
seriously  debated  what  was  to  be  done,  being  desirous  that 
the  nation  should  receive  the  salvation  it  demanded,  and  griev- 
ing that  they  had  not  received  the  preacher  sent  to  them. 
Then  said  Aidcn,  who  was  also  present  in  the  council,  to  the 
priest  then  spoken  of,  T  am  of  opinion,  brother,  that  you  were 
more  severe  to  your  unlearned  hearers  than  you  ought  to  have 
been,  and  did  not  at  first,  conformably  to  the  apostolic  rule, 
give  them  the  milk  of  more  easy  doctrine,  till  being  by  degrees 
nourished  with  the  word  of  God,  they  should  be  capable  of 
greater  perfection  and  be  able  to  practice  God's  sublimer  pre- 
cepts.' Having  heard  these  words,  all  present  began  diligently 
to  weigh  what  he  had  said,  and  presently  concluded  that  he  de- 
served to  be  made  a  bishop,  and  ought  to  be  sent  to  instruct 
the  incredulous  and  unlearned ;  since  he  was  found  to  be  en- 
dued with  singular  discretion,  which  is  the  mother  of  the  other 
virtues,  and  accordingly  being  ordained,  they  sent  him  to  their 
friend,  King  Oswald,  to  preach. 

310.  "On  the  arrival  of  the  bishop,  the  king  appointed  him 
his  episcopal  see  in  the  isle  of  Lindisfarne,  as  he  desired.  Which 
place,  as  the  tide  flows  and  ebbs  twice  a  day  is  enclosed  by  the 
waves  of  the  sea  like  an  island ;  and  again,  twice  in  the  day, 
when  the  shore  is  left  dry,  becomes  contiguous  to  the  land. 
The  king  also  humbly  and  willingly  in  all  cases  giving  ear  to 
his  admonitions,  industriously  applied  himself  to  build  and 
extend  the  Church  of  Christ  in  his  kingdom ;  wherein,  when 
the  bishop,  who  was  not  skilful  in  the  English  tongue,  preached 
the  gospel,  it  was  most  delightful  to  see  the  king  himself  inter- 
preting the  word  of  God  to  his  commanders  and  ministers, 
for  he  had  perfectly  learned  the  language  of  the  Scots  during 
his  long  banishment.  From  that  time  many  of  the  Scots  came 
daily  into  Britain,  and  with  great  devotion  preached  the  word 
to  those  provinces  of  the  English  over  which  King  Oswald 
reigned,    and   those   among   them    that   had    received   priest's 


ENGLAND.  289 

orders  administered  to  them  the  grace  of  baptism.  Churches 
were  built  in  several  places;  the  people  joyfully  flocked  to- 
gether to  hear  the  word ;  money  and  lands  were  given  of  the 
king's  bounty  to  build  monasteries;  the  English,  great  and 
small,  were,  by  their  Scottish  masters,  instructed  in  the  rules 
and  observance  of  regular  discipline;  for  most  of  them  that 
came  to  preach  were  monks.  Bishop  Aiden  was  himself  a 
monk  of  the  island  called  Hii,  whose  monastery  was  for  a 
long  time  the  chief  of  almost  all  those  of  the  northern  Scots, 
and  all  those  of  the  Picts,  and  had  the  direction  of  their  peo- 
ple." 

311.  The  unmistakable  earnestness  of  the  Celtic  mis- 
sionaries and  their  close  attachment  to  the  Scriptures 
gave  them  great  moral  power  as  missionaries.  They 
went  everywhere  preaching,  not  Christ  and  Rome,  or 
Canterbury,  but  Christ  and  the  Scriptures.  The  final 
subjugation  of  Northumbria  to  Christ  was  largely  due 
to  them.  As  in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  so-called  monas- 
teries, social  settlements,  were  the  dynamos  of  enlight- 
ening, christianizing  power.  Sometimes  the  head 
worker  of  a  settlement  was  a  woman.  One  of  the  most 
efficient  of  these  was  Hilda-  Some  of  the  leading  min- 
isters were  educated  in  the  establishment  at  Whitby, 
over  which  she  presided. 

312.  The  work  of  the  Celtic  missionaries  was  not 
confined  to  Northumbria,  but  extended  through  all  the 
petty  kingdoms  of  the  Angles  and  the  Saxons.  Hodden 
and  Stubbs,  the  learned  editors  of  the  original  docu- 
ments of  early  English  history,  say  that  "the  whole 
of  England,  except  Kent,  East  Anglia,  Wessex  and 
Sussex,  was,  at  the  beginning  of  A.  D.  664,  attached 
to  the  Scottish  communion,  and  Wessex  was  under  a 
Bishop,  Wine,  ordained    in  Gaul  and  in    communion 


29O  TWO    THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

with  British  bishops.  Sussex  was  still  heathen.  So 
that  Kent  and  East  Anglia  alone  remained  completely 
in  communion  with  both  Rome  and  Canterbury."  In 
the  year  just  named,  however,  a  council  was  convened 
at  Whitby  in  which  it  was  concluded  that  the  Roman 
ritual  should  be  the  standard.  It  ought  to  be  an  im- 
pressive lesson  to  those  who  are  denied  the  privilege 
of  being  foreign  missionaries  themselves,  that  the  two 
men  who  were  most  efficient  in  bringing  about  the 
conversion  of  England  were  men  who  never  saw  that 
country  themselves,  Columba  and  Gregory.  It  is  a 
suggestive  fact  that  only  one  of  these  two  exercised 
his  ministry  in  a  metropolis;  the  other  lived  in  a  most 
out-of-the-way  corner  of  the  world. 

313.  The  last  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  kingdoms  to  ac- 
cept Christianity  was  that  of  the  South  Saxons.  They 
were  largely  cut  off  from  their  fellows  by  the  vast 
region  of  Andredesweald,  "wood  of  the  uninhabited 
district."  A  great  section  of  it  is  known  still  as  the 
Weald.  It  marked  the  progress  of  missions  in  Eng- 
land that  their  apostle  was  an  Englishman.  The  king 
and  queen  had  been  converted  some  time  before  by 
the  influence  of  royal  acquaintances  in  the  regions 
north.  At  their  invitation  some  Irish  missionaries, 
with  Dicul  at  the  head,  had  established  a  small  mis- 
sionary settlement.  But  they  were  not  able  to  win  many 
converts. 

There  is  no  more  stirring  story  in  early  English 
Church  history  than  that  of  Wilfrid  of  Northumbria. 
Of  high  birth  and  captivating  manners  he  had  an  early 
ambition  to  be  educated  in  Rome.     An  unkind  step- 


ENGLAND.  29 1 

mother  had  driven  him  from  home.  But  the  first 
child  to  be  christened  in  Northumbria  was  now  queen 
of  that  country.  Queen  Eanrled  befriended  young 
Wilfrid  and  sent  him  first  to  Lindisfarne,  where  he 
proved  a  very  apt  scholar,  learning  the  whole  Psalter 
in  the  translation  made  by  Jerome  in  Bethlehem.  She 
then  provided  for  his  journey  to  Rome.  On  the  way 
he  learned  at  Canterbury  another  version  of  the 
Psalter  made  by  Jerome  five  years  earlier  in  Rome. 
At  Lyons  in  France  Wilfrid  was  so  popular  with  the 
Bishop,  Annemund,  that  the  latter  endeavored  to  per- 
suade him  to  give  up  monastic  life  and  marry  his  niece, 
the  daughter  of  the  count  of  the  city.  But  the  young 
man  continued  after  a  time  his  journey  to  Rome.  On 
his  return  to  Northumbria  Wilfrid  became  the  chief 
champion  of  Rome  in  the  Council  of  Whitby  and  was 
made  the  Archbishop  of  York.  British  missionaries 
had  been  defeated  and  had  many  of  them  withdrawn 
to  Iona.  But  other  ecclesiastical  and  political  com- 
plications arose  hostile  to  Wilfrid.  He  appealed  to 
Rome  and  went  there  again  and  again,  always  to  be 
indorsed.  But  the  independent  Northumbrian  kings 
and  churchmen  often  refused  to  obey  Rome.  Wilfrid 
was  imprisoned  under  severe  jailors  and  was  repeated- 
ly in  forced  or  voluntary  exile.  But  he  was  full  of 
unresting  energy.  At  one  time  in  Frisia  (Holland) 
he  was  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  hundreds 
from  heathenism  to  Christianity. 

314.  In  681,  finding  no  comfort  among  the  Chris- 
tian tribes  of  England,  he  made  his  way  to  the  South 
Saxon  pagans.  They  had  been  suffering  from  ter- 
rible famine.     Many  had  drowned  themselves  to  es- 


2Q2  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

cape  their  misery.  Forty  or  fifty  at  one  time,  holding 
each  other's  hands,  had  flung  themselves  over  the 
cliffs  into  the  sea.  So  low  was  their  state  of  civiliza- 
tion that  they  had  not  even  learned  to  fish.  Wilfrid, 
the  refined  and  charming  companion  of  princes  and 
prelates,  taught  the  poor  savages  of  Sussex  how  to 
fish  with  nets  and  gather  abundant  food.  There  came 
rains  and  ample  harvests.  By  his  own  energy,  under 
a  favoring  providence  Wilfrid  stood  forth  as  the  re- 
deemer of  the  South  Saxons  from  destruction.  It  was 
the  more  striking  because,  fifteen  years  before,  return- 
ing from  Rome,  his  boat  had  been  stranded  on  their 
shore  in  a  storm.  They  were  wreckers  of  the  worst 
type,  and  had  been  kept  at  bay  only  by  vigorous  fight- 
ing till  a  rising  tide  floated  the  craft.  Now  the  one 
they  had  tried  to  murder  was  the  saviour  of  their 
lives.  They  flocked  to  him  in  crowds  for  baptism.  So 
an  Englishman  won  to  Christ  the  last  pagan  tribe  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons  and  did  it  in  a  most  humane,  that 
is,  a  most  Christ-like,  way. 

315.  The  seventh  century  saw  England — which  had 
once  been  Christian  and  then  had  been  entirely  over- 
whelmed with  barbarous  heathenism — once  more 
transformed  into  a  Christian  land.  It  was  now  five 
hundred  years  since  Tertullian  had  told  the  first  cer- 
tain word  as  to  Christians  in  Britain.  Who  shall  be 
discouraged  with  slowness  in  modern  missions  when 
we  remember  that  it  took  half  a  millennium  to  bring 
the  little  British  Islands  to  even  a  nominal  Christian- 
ity? It  took  centuries  more  for  its  full  sweetness  and 
light  to  pervade  the  country.  But  what  work  ever 
done  has  been  more  important  for  the  whole  world? 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


GERMANIC  REGIONS. 


316.  Location  of  Germanic  tribes.  317.  Ulfilas. 
318.  Origin  of  German  literature.  319.  Theory  and  life. 
320.  Hun  invasion.  321.  Noricum.  322.  Severinus. 
323.  His  civic  work.  324.  Columbanus.  325.  Irish 
and  English  missionaries.  326.  Amandus.  327.  Eli- 
gius.  328.  On  superstition.  329.  Practical  Christian- 
ity. 330.  Willibrord.  331.  His  associates  in  work. 
332.  Anglo-Saxon  success.  333.  Winfrid  or  Boniface. 
334.  Chaotic  conditions.  335.  Boniface  as  an  organizer. 
336.  His  helpers.  337.  Women's  work.  338.  Walpur- 
gis.  339.  Other  missionaries.  340.  The  oak  of  Geis- 
lar.  341.  The  end  of  strife.  342.  The  Saxons. 
343.  Their  spiritual  conquest.  344.  Charlemagne's  teach- 
er. 345.  East  Prussia.  346.  The  Knights.  347. 
Lithuania.        348.  A  millennium  of  missions. 

316.  In  the  region  of  Lake  Constance  the  sources  of 
the  Rhine  and  the  Danube  are  less  than  five  miles  apart, 
one  flowing  to  the  North  Sea  and  the  other  eastward 
to  the  Black  Sea.  East  of  the  Rhine  and  north  of  the 
Danube  lay  Germanic  Europe,  inhabited  by  migratory 
and  warring  races  and  tribes.  The  absence  of  complete 
records  of  the  time  makes  it  impossible  to  write  a  de- 
tailed history  of  the  conversion  of  these  barbarous  peo- 
ples to  Christianity,     The  evangelizing  forces   were 

293 


294  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

almost  as  divers  and  shifting  as  the  tribes  of  people 
with  whorr  they  worked.  Our  space  will  allow  only  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  facts  which  have  been  recorded. 
Stripped  of  legendary  accumulations  and  omitting  all 
minor  details,  the  account  is  best  remembered  as 
grouped  around  a  few  great  names. 

317.  Ulfilas  was  the  first  of  the  Germanic  mission- 
aries. The  name  of  this  Apostle  of  the  Goths  is  often 
spelled  Wulfila.  It  means  little  wolf  and  savors  of 
a  savage  race  and  age.  In  the  second  half  of  the  third 
century  Goths  swept  downward,  not  only  beyond  the 
Danube,  but  even  across  the  Hellespont  into  Asia 
Minor  and  carried  thence  many  Christian  captives  into 
slavery.  So  Christianity  was  introduced  among  the 
wild  people  north  of  the  Danube.  Ulfilas  came  of  this 
Christian  stock.  He  was  born  A.  D.  311.  At  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  he  went  with  an  embassy  of  Alaric, 
king  of  the  Goths,  to  Constantinople.  There  he  re- 
mained for  ten  years  imbibing  Christianity  and  some- 
thing of  Greek  culture.  He  was  made  a  church  reader 
and  labored  faithfully  among  the  Goths  north  of  the 
Danube  and  later  in  territory  occupied  by  them  just 
south  of  that  river. 

318.  Ulfilas  was  one  of  the  first  missionaries  to  give 
not  only  Christianity,  but  letters  to  a  whole  people. 
The  Goths  were  without  books,  without  writing.  In 
order  that  they  might  have  the  Scriptures,  their  mis- 
sionary pastor  invented  for  them  an  alphabet,  using 
modifications  of  the  Greek  letters  with  the  addition 
of  some  characters  to  represent  Gothic  sounds  for 
which  the  Greeks  had  no  signs.    He  is  said  to  have 


GERMANIC    REGIONS.  295 

given  his  people  considerable  literature  in  the  way  of 
sermons  and  other  religious  treatises;  but  scarcely 
anything  has  come  down  to  us  except  his  New  Testa- 
ment. He  translated  the  whole  Bible  except  the  Books 
of  Kings,  omitting  these  because  he  feared  that  they 
would  tend  to  feed  the  warlike  passions  of  which  the 
Goths  had  a  superabundance  already.  The  best  copy 
extant  of  the  Testament  of  Ulfilas  is  in  the  University 
of  Upsala,  Sweden.  It  is  known  as  the  silver  copy, 
because  the  letters  are  silver  on  a  purple  background. 
It  is  extremely  precious  to  the  world  because  it  is  the 
earliest  existing  form  of  the  Teutonic  speech,  the 
mother-language  of  all  northern  Europe  and  America. 

319.  At  the  time  when  Ulfilas  learned  Christianity 
in  the  Eastern  Roman  Empire  it  was  dominantly  Arian 
in  theology;  so  he  taught  it  to  the  Goths.  But,  like 
the  true  missionary  that  he  was,  he  seems  to  have 
cared  far  more  for  life  than  for  theories  about  life. 
Whatever  the  speculative  notion,  Christ  was  to  him  in 
reality  the  embodiment  of  God  and  Ulfilas  persistently 
preached  Christ  and  called  him  God. 

320.  The  region  of  the  Goths  was  invaded  by  the 
still  more  barbaric  Huns,  a  people  belonging  to  an 
utterly  different  section  of  the  human  race.  The 
Goths,  thus  pushed  from  behind,  under  their  great 
leader  Alaric,  swept  in  huge  migrations  westward. 
They  made  themselves  masters  away  in  the  south- 
ward peninsulas  of  Europe,  in  Italy  and  in  Spain. 
With  all  their  barbarism,  they  had  assimilated  some 
elements  of  Christianity  and  in  moral  conduct  they 
were  little  inferior  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  regions 


296  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

which  they  invaded.  They  sacked  Rome,  according  to 
the  universal  custom  of  the  times,  but  they  spared  much 
on  account  of  Christianity. 

321.  Noricum,  the  region  about  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Danube,  being  a  part  of  the  Roman  Empire,  was 
early  reached  by  the  gospel.  In  the  second  century 
Christianity  is  said  to  have  penetrated  northward  from 
the  region  around  the  head  of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  The 
first  name  of  a  missionary  there  to  be  handed  down 
to  us  is  that  of  Maximilian  in  the  third  century.  In 
the  year  304  Flarian  was  martyred  by  drowning  in  the 
river. 

322.  The  Latinized  portions  of  the  country  had 
quite  generally  accepted  Roman  Christianity  when  the 
tide  of  barbarian  invasion  swept  over  it,  wave  on 
wave.  Then  it  was  largely  re-paganized.  Amid  the 
terrorized  remnants  of  Christianity  there  suddenly 
appeared  a  man  who  refused  to  give  any  account  of 
himself,  but  who  was  clearly  one  of  the  zealous  her- 
mits of  Roman  Africa.  There  was  doubtless  a  twinkle 
in  his  eye  when  he  said,  in  reply  to  questions :  "If 
you  take  me  to  be  a  runaway  slave,  get  ready  money 
to  redeem  me  when  my  master  comes  to  ask  me  back." 
His  name  was  Severinus.  He  built  himself  a  hermi- 
tage before  the  gates  of  Vienna.  He  ate  nothing  till 
sunset.  He  had  no  bed  but  his  mantle  on  the  ground. 
He  went  barefooted,  even  in  the  deepest  snow.  His 
was  the  type  of  religious  manifestation  to  impress  the 
people  of  that  time  and  he  acquired  a  great  ascend- 
ency, not  only  over  the  Romanized  portion  of  the 
population,  but  even  over  the  barbarians.    He  gave  no 


GERMANIC    REGIONS.  297 

quarter  to  the  Arian  type  of  Christianity.  But  he  was 
often  able  by  his  daring  presence  and  appeals  to  rescue 
Christian  captives  from  the  barbarians,  whether  they 
were  Arian  or  pagan.  He  raised  large  funds  for  ran- 
soming captives  and  for  other  charitable  work. 

323.  He  stimulated  the  towns  to  defend  them- 
selves to  the  last  against  the  invaders,  and  had  the 
fighting  men  form  themselves  into  organized  com- 
panies for  regular  drill  and  discipline.  He  also  de- 
vised improved  means  of  commerce  and  promoted  bet- 
ter municipal  organization.  Along  the  current  of  this 
broad  ministry  he  carried  his  ideas  of  the  true  religion 
into  the  very  hearts  and  lives  of  men,  so  that  the 
Roman  form  of  Christianity  not  only  stood  and 
stemmed  the  tide  of  barbarian  invasion,  but  actually 
overcame  the  conquerors.  It  was  not  Severinus  alone, 
but  he  and  other  unnamed  missionaries  who  saved  that 
part  of  Europe  to  civilization  and  secured  the  estab- 
lishment of  Christianity  there  long  before  a  similar 
work  was  done  for  the  regions  further  north.  Sever- 
inus finished  his  career  A.  D.  482. 

324.  The  next  conspicuous  apostles  of  Central  Eu- 
rope entered  the  land  a  hundred  years  after  the  death 
of  Severinus  and  came  from  the  opposite  direction. 
They  were  Irishmen.  Their  leader,  Columbanus,  was 
a  scholar  as  well  as  a  missionary.  He  was  educated  in 
the  great  monastic  school  of  Bangor,  on  the  coast  of 
Down,  where  thousands  of  others  received  efficient 
training  under  the  direction  of  Comgall,  the  head  of 
the  institution.  His  writings  show  what  excellent  use 
he  had  made  of  his  advantages.     When  past  forty 


298  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS.' 

years  of  age  Columbanus,  with  twelve  comrades, 
crossed  over  to  France  and  after  some  wanderings 
founded  a  monastery  amid  the  spurs  and  defiles  of  the 
Vosges  Mountains  at  Luxeuil.  The  establishment  at- 
tracted great  numbers  of  men.  But  his  unflinching 
protest  against  the  gross  immorality  of  the  Court  of 
Burgundy  as  well  as  the  high"  standard  of  ascetic  life 
at  Luxeuil,  which  put  to  shame  the  lax  and  worldly 
lives  of  the  Burgundian  clergy,  resulted  in  the  banish- 
ment of  Columbanus.  With  some  companions  he 
made  his  way  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Rhine  and  at 
the  south  end  of  Lake  Constance  founded  a  monastery 
in  Bregenz.  Here,  though  well  advanced  in  years,  he 
assailed  the  surrounding  paganism  with  the  fiery  zeal 
of  an  Irish  youth.  He  burned  the  temples  of  the  Teu- 
tonic gods.  He  broke  the  cauldrons  in  which  beer 
was  brewed  to  offer  to  Woden.  He  threw  gilded  idols 
into  the  lake.  After  three  years  the  hostility  of  people 
and  rulers,  along  with  his  own  restless  spirit,  drove 
him  over  the  Alps  into  Lombardy,  where  at  Bobbio,  in 
the  Apennine  Mountains,  he  was  permitted  to  found 
another  monastery.  There  he  finished  his  career.  He 
is  always  counted  one  of  the  pioneer  foreign  mission- 
aries, although  the  chief  part  of  his  life  was  not  given 
to  direct  work  for  the  heathen.  But  the  missionary 
spirit  dominated  his  course.  He  was  the  pre-eminent 
man  among  a  great  number  of  Irishmen  who  went 
on  missions  to  continental  Europe  and  he  established 
centers  of  long  continued  missionary  activity. 

325.    Gallus  and  others  of  his  Irish  comrades  re- 
mained near  Lake  Constance  and  founded  a  monas- 


GERMANIC    REGIONS.  299 

tery  from  which  the  town  and  province  of  St.  Gall  were 
named.  This  became  the  great  evangelizing  center 
from  which  Switzerland  was  converted  to  Christ.  Eus- 
tasius,  a  successor  of  Columbanus  in  the  abbacy  of 
Luxeuil,  and  Agilus,  from  Bobbio,  both  pupils  of 
Columbanus,  were  the  first  missionaries  from  the  West 
to  work  in  Bavaria.  Other  Irish  missionaries,  Kilian 
and  Colman  and  Totnan,  pushed  their  way  to  Wurtz- 
burg  on  the  River  Main.  These  are  but  a  few  of  the 
Irish  missionaries  who  are  said  to  have  swarmed  like 
bees  over  the  continent. 

•  Ireland  was  not  the  only  part  of  Britain  to  send  out 
foreign  missionaries.  England  soon  followed  and  ex- 
ceeded in  the  great  enterprise  of  converting  Central 
Europe.  More  than  a  thousand  years,  a  full,  round 
millennium,  before  Carey  became  the  apostle  of  India, 
Englishmen  went  as  foreign  missionaries  to  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe. 

326.  The  Celtic  portion  of  the  Netherlands  had 
been  much  Latinized  under  the  Romans  and 
was  well  penetrated  with  Christianity.  When  the 
Teutonic  flood  came  in  it  was  met  and  began  at  once 
to  be  tinged  with  Christianity.  Amid  the  many  cur- 
rents and  counter-currents  of  the  time  the  Irish  mis- 
sionaries introduced  practices  in  some  respects  freer 
than  the  Roman,  in  some  respects  sterner  and  in  other 
respects  simply  different,  neither  better  nor  worse. 
One  of  the  strongly  Romanizing  missionaries  was 
Amandos,  a  native  of  Aquitania.  He  also  did  vigor- 
ous work  among  the  heathen  in  Flanders.  He  pro- 
cured and  used  a  mandate  of  Dagobert,  the  Frankish 


300  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

king,  that  the  pagans  should  be  baptized.  But  he  also 
redeemed  and  taught  captives.  He  cut  down  from 
the  gallows  a  man  who  was  counted  dead  and  resus- 
citated him,  so  that  the  people  thought  that  a  miracle 
had  been  wrought.  At  last  multitudes  overthrew  their 
pagan  altars  and  asked  for  baptism. 

327.  A  missionary  of  much  higher  type  was  Eligius. 
He  was  a  prosperous  goldsmith  who  worked  at  his 
trade  with  his  Bible  open  before  him  and  was  able  to 
give  religious  instruction  better  than  many  of  the  clergy 
of  the  time.  It  was  not  strange  that  such  a  man  should 
be  impressed  with  the  needs  of  the  heathen.  He  gave 
himself  up  to  missionary  work  in  the  wilds  of  Fries- 
land  (Holland).  Many  turned  to  Christ  and  were 
faithfully  taught  to  lay  aside  superstitions  and  live 
kind  and  useful  Christian  lives.  He  was  made  Bishop 
of  Noyon  in  640  A.  D.  A  pupil  of  Eligius  put  on 
record  the  following  as  the  substance  of  one  of  his 
discourses : 

328.  "Worship  not  the  heavens,  nor  the  stars,  nor  the  earth, 
nor  anything  else  but  God ;  for  He,  by  His  power  alone,  has 
created  and  disposed  all  things.  Doubtless  the  sky  is  lofty,  the 
stars  are  beautiful,  the  earth  is  vast,  the  ocean  boundless,  but 
He  who  made  all  these  is  greater  and  fairer  than  they.  I  de- 
clare, then,  that  you  must  not  follow  the  impious  customs  of 
the  unbelieving  pagans.  Let  no  man  take  note  of  what  day  he 
leaves  his  house,  or  what  day  he  returns  there,  for  God  has 
made  every  day.  Nor  must  any  one  scruple  to  begin  a  work 
at  the  new  moon :  for  God  has  made  the  moon,  to  the  end  that 
it  should  mark  the  time  and  enlighten  the  darkness,  and  not 
that  it  should  interrupt  men's  business  and  disturb  their 
minds.  Let  none  believe  himself  subject  to  an  appointed  des- 
tiny, to  a  lot  or  to  a  horoscope,  according  to  the  common 
saying,  'Everyman  shall  be  that  which  his  birth  has  made  him' ; 


GERMANIC    REGIONS.  301 

for  God  wills  that  all  men  should  attain  salvation  and  arrive 
at  a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

329.  "But  on  every  Sunday  present  yourselves  at  the  church, 
and  when  there  take  no  thought  of  business  or  of  quarrels,  or 
of  trifling  conversation,  and  hearken  in  silence  to  the  divine 
teaching.  It  sufficeth  not,  my  friends,  to  have  received  the 
name  of  Christians  if  you  do  not  the  works  of  Christians. 
That  man  bears  the  name  of  Christian  with  profit  to  himself 
who  keeps  the  precepts  of  Christ,  who  steals  not,  who  bears 
not  false  witness,  who  lies  not,  who  doth  not  commit  adul- 
tery, who  hateth  no  man,  who  returns  not  evil  for  evil.  That 
man  is  a  Christian  indeed  who  puts  no  faith  in  phylacteries  nor 
other  devilish  superstitions,  but  hopes  in  Christ  only;  who  re- 
ceives the  wayfarer  with  gladness,  as  though  he  were  enter- 
taining Christ  Himself,  for  it  is  said,  'I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye 
took  Me  in.'  That  man,  I  tell  you,  is  a  Christian  who  washes 
the  feet  of  his  guests,  and  loves  them  as  dear  kinsmen,  who 
bestows  alms  to  the  poor  according  to  his  own  means,  who 
touches  not  the  produce  of  his  own  farm  till  he  has  given  a 
portion  to  the  Lord,  who  knows  not  the  deceitful  scale  or  the 
false  measure,  who  lives  chastely  and  in  the  fear  of  God,  who 
finally,  bearing  in  mind  the  Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  takes 
care  to  teach  them  to  his  children  and  his  household." 

330.  But  the  man  who  is  accounted  the  apostle  of 
Holland  was  "Willibrord.  A  native  of  Northumbria  and 
educated  at  Ripon,  he  went,  for  a  post-graduate 
course,  as  we  might  say,  to  Ireland,  at  that  time  pre- 
eminently the  land  of  learning  and  of  religion.  There 
he  came  under  the  influence  of  Egbert,  an  Englishman 
who  had  made  Ireland  his  home  and  who  was  one  of 
the  great  forces  in  stimulating  missionary  zeal.  With 
eleven  companions  Willibrord  set  sail  for  Friesland 
and  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine  in  the  year  690. 

331.  The  names  of  the  other  members  of  this  first 
band  cf  Anglo-Saxon  foreign  missionaries  were   Swi- 


3<D2  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS   OF   MISSIONS. 

bert,  "Wigbert,  Acca,  "Willibald,  "Winmbald,  Ewald, 
Ewald,  Werenfrid,  Marcellinus,  Lebvinus  and  Adelbert. 
Acca  was  a  skillful  musician,  who  made  music  a 
great  help  in  the  mission.  After  a  time  he  was  recalled 
for  special  work  in  England.  Others  came  from  Eng- 
land from  time  to  time,  replenishing  the  missionary 
force  in  Friesland.  Of  the  original  band  Willibald 
worked  at  Aichstadt,  Lebvinus  at  Deventer,  Marcel- 
linus at  Overyssel.  The  Ewald  brothers  pushed  on 
into  the  wilds  of  Saxony  and  were  martyred  there. 

332.  Willibrord  himself  came  to  be  held  in  the  high- 
est esteem  for  his  work  by  the  Pope  and  by  the  civil 
rulers.  The  English  missionaries  entered  into  the 
labors  of  Eligius,  and  the  other  Gallic  missionaries, 
greatly  extending  and  consolidating  the  work,  so  that 
they  became  the  real  evangelizers  of  Holland.  The 
Anglo-Saxons  had  great  advantage  in  being  of  the 
same  stock  and  of  almost  the  same  speech  as  the  Fris- 
ians. Just  here,  however,  we  cannot  better  sum  up  the 
character  of  the  first  great  English  foreign  mission- 
ary than  in  the  Latin  words  with  which  Alcuin,  the 
distinguished  English  tutor  of  Charlemagne,  de- 
scribed Willibrord :  Omni  dignitate  pr<zdarusy  stat- 
ura  deceits,  vultu  honorabilis,  facie  venustus,  corde 
Icetus  consilio  sapiens,  ore  jucundus,  moribus  compo si- 
tus et  in  omni  opere  Dei  strenuus." 

333.  Without  question  the  most  distinguished  and 
efficient  English  foreign  missionary  before  Carey  was 
Winfrid,  more  frequently  known  by  the  name  given 
him  later,  Boniface.  When  the  company  of  Willibrord 
sailed  for  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine,  Winfrid  was  a  lad 


GERMANIC    REGIONS.  303 

but  ten  years  of  age  in  his  native  kingdom  of  Wessex. 
He  was  of  ancient  and  noble  family  and  received  his 
education  at  Exeter,  where  he  gave  promise  of  being 
one  of  the  best  scholars  of  England.  At  thirty  years 
of  age  he  was  chosen  by  the  assembled  abbots  of  Wes- 
sex to  represent  them  in  a  council  at  Canterbury  and  he 
had  every  prospect  of  ecclesiastical  preferment.  But 
for  a  score  of  years  ecclesiastical  circles  in  England  had 
rung  with  reports  of  the  stirring  missionary  deeds  of 
WiHibrord  and  his  comrades.  Winfrid  or  Boniface, 
with  only  two  or  three  companions,  embarked  for 
Friesland.  There  he  began  to  work  and  his  heart 
never  relinquished  that  field  of  his  early  ideals,  but 
brought  him  back  there  to  die  a  martyr's  death  forty- 
five  years  later.  But  meantime  it  was  ordered  that  he 
should  spend  most  of  his  long  missionary  career  in 
Germany  instead  of  Holland. 

334.  The  utterly  chaotic  social  and  religious  condi- 
tion of  the  people  which  we  have  noted  elsewhere  was 
at  this  time  at  its  height  along  the  central  reaches  of 
the  Rhine.  Old  Roman -Gallic,  Celt  and  many  Teu- 
tonic tribes  were  seething  together.  In  the  midst  of 
many  phases  of  paganism  Christianity  had  more  or  less 
foothold,  but  Christianity  of  divers  aspects. 

Five  hundred  years  before  the  religion  of  the  cross 
had  followed  the  Roman  eagles  along  the  Roman  roads 
to  the  Roman  camps  and  towns.  This  early  planting 
had  been  fostered  by  the  somewhat  independent  Gallic 
type  of  church  life.  The  rough  and  ready  Frankish 
rulers,  still  half  pagan  in  their  ideals,  had  given  it  a 
cast  of  their  own.     Swarms  of  zealous  Irish  mission- 


304  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

aries  had  woven  their  ideas  widely  through  the  fabric. 
They  insisted  on  a  different  time  for  celebrating  Easter 
from  that  observed  in  the  south,  on  a  different  way  of 
shaving  the  heads  of  priests.  In  more  important 
aspects  of  church  life,  they  were  less  absolutely  subor- 
dinated to  Rome.  In  some  respects  their  protests 
against  existing  regulations  command  our  modern  sym- 
pathies. 

335.  But  those  dark,  deeply  involved,  chaotic,  times 
needed  a  great,  organizing,  master  mind.  Boniface 
proved  to  be  the  man  for  the  hour.  Successive  Popes 
had  the  sagacity  to  see  this  and  they  equipped  him  with 
all  needful  ecclesiastical  sanction,  kept  him  away  from 
his  favorite,  but  less  critical  Netherland  field  and  sent 
him  here  and  there  throughout  the  vast  tangle  of  Ger- 
manic forest  and  Germanic  society.  He  converted,  or- 
ganized and  reorganized  churches  into  the  one  Church 
of  Rome.  Our  interest  is  especially  in  his  work  for 
the  heathen.  Allemani,  Hessians,  Bavarians,  Saxons 
and  Franks  of  various  tribes  heard  the  gospel  from 
him  and  turned  to  Christ  in  great  numbers. 

It  is  said  that  one  hundred  thousand  were  baptized 
under  his  immediate  direction.  Doubtless  many  of 
them,  like  the  earlier  wholesale  baptisms  of  Clovis  and 
his  three  thousand  followers,  were  merely  formal,  sig- 
nifying no  change  of  life  and  character.  But  there 
were  many  cases,  too,  of  genuine  conversion,  proved 
by  altered  lives. 

336.  Boniface  called  to  his  aid  a  multitude  of  help- 
ers, sending  home  to  England  for  many  of  them.  The 
monastic  colleges  of  those  days  responded  with  a  host 


GERMANIC    REGIONS.  305 

of  student  volunteers.  Lull,  Willibald  and  Denehard 
were  among  the  number.  "Willibald  was  at  that  time 
just  home  from  a  trip  to  Jerusalem.  Denehard  was 
intimately  associated  with  Boniface  and  was  sent  by 
him  on  delicate  and  important  errands  to  Rome.  The 
work  of  Lull  so  commended  itself  that  Boniface  after- 
ward made  him  his  own  successor. 

337.  However  it  may  be  with  Mohammedan  mis- 
sions, no  Christian  mission  can  succeed  without  the 
work  of  Christian  women. 

This  was  no  less  true  in  Germanic  Europe  1300 
years  ago  than  it  is  on  the  mission  fields  of  the  world 
today.  Many  women  went  from  England  to  be  co- 
workers with  men  in  publishing  the  gospel.  Lioba, 
abbess  of  Bishofsheim,  was  a  kinswoman  of  Boniface. 
She  was  said  to  be  "beautiful  as  the  angels,  fascinating 
in  her  speech,  learned  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and 
canons."  Thecla,  a  nun  of  Wimborne,  was  sent  by 
Boniface  from  England  to  preside  over  the  convent  of 
Bischofsheim  under  the  direction  of  Lioba,  and,  later, 
to  be  abbess  of  Ketzeingen  on  the  Main. 

388.  Walpurgis,  daughter  of  a  West  Saxon  king, 
was  educated  at  Wimborne  under  the  direction  of  the 
abbess  Tetta.  In  748,  A.  D.,  she  went  with  the  abbess 
and  several  other  women  to  take  part  in  the  missionary 
work  which  Boniface  was  pushing  so  vigorously  in 
Germany.  At  first  she  was  established  near  her  broth- 
ers Willibald  and  Winnibald  at  Eichstadt.  A  little 
later  the  convent  of  Heidenham  was  established  by 
Winnibald,  who  directed  its  affairs  until  his  death, 
when  Walpurgis  succeeded  him  in  office  and  was  ab- 


306  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

bess  to  the  end  of  her  life,  fifteen  years  later:  After 
her  death  a  convent  was  erected  in  her  honor.  Many 
churches  and  chapels  were  dedicated  to  her  in  Ger- 
many, France,  the  Netherlands  and  England. 

339.  Chinnihild  and  her  daughter,  Berathgith, 
labored  in  Thuringia;  Chonidrat  was  stationed  in  Ba- 
varia. Other  women  whose  names  and  stations  have 
not  been  preserved  for  us  left  their  impress  on  the 
work. 

Boniface  commissioned  Sturm,  a  noble  Bavarian 
pupil,  to  found  a  monastery  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  for- 
est in  the  valley  of  the  Weser.  It  was  called  Fulda 
from  the  name  of  the  branch  of  the  river  on  which  it 
stood.  It  became  a  center  of  evangelization  in  Ger- 
many similar  to  St.  Gall  in  Switzerland. 

340.  The  most  dramatic  scene  recorded  of  the  life 
of  Boniface  was  that  of  his  felling  the  sacred  oak  of 
Geislar.  When  in  the  midst  of  a  multitude  of  pagan 
worshipers,  he  dared  to  lay  the  glittering  blade  of 
a  woodman's  axe  to  the  root  of  the  tree  dedicated  to 
their  great  god  Thor,  they  awaited  the  result  in 
profound  silence.  To  them  it  seemed  a  trial  of  strength 
between  Thor  and  the  god  of  this  stranger.  When  a 
timely  blast  of  wind  suddenly  completed  his  work, 
the  awe-struck  tribe  turned  en  masse  to  Christ.  The 
story  is  nowhere  more  charmingly  and  stirringly  re- 
told than  in  Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke's  "First  Christmas 
Tree." 

341.  At  last,  when  seventy-five  years  of  age,  instead 
of  going  to  Fulda  to  die  in  peace,  as  he  had  hoped  to  do, 
the  old  hero,  with  the  fire  of  youth  still  burning  in 


GERMANIC    REGIONS.  30/ 

him,  led  a  company  of  missionaries  into  a  part  of 
Frisia  which  Willibrord  and  his  successors  had  not 
yet  been  able  to  subdue  to  Christ.  At  first  success 
attended  the  mission.  But  later,  as  several  candidates 
were  awaiting  baptism,  a  horde  of  pagans  rushed  upon 
them.  His  comrades  started  to  the  defense,  but  he 
said,  "Cease,  my  children,  from  strife."  So  the  unre- 
sisting English  apostle  of  Germany  finished  his  war- 
fare. 

342.  The  sturdiest  of  the  German  tribes  were  the 
Saxons.  Originally  sea  rovers,  a  portion 
of  them  had  settled  on  the  southeast 
shores  of  Britain  and  another  portion  on 
the  northwest  shores  of  Germany.  They  occupied  the 
territory  from  the  Yssel  to  the  Elbe.  Though  Willi- 
brord's  comrades,  the  Ewald  brothers,  had  given  their 
lives  in  a  mission  to  the  Saxons,  and  Boniface  had  en- 
deavored to  establish  missions  among  them,  they  were 
still  intense  pagans.  Combining  religious  zeal  with 
imperial  ambition  Charlemagne  set  out  for  the  com- 
plete conquest  of  Saxony.  As  fast  and  as  far  as  his 
arms  reached  the  people  were  baptized  by  his  com- 
mand. Repeatedly  he  thought  that  the  work  was  prac- 
tically accomplished.  But  again  and  again  the  brave 
Saxons  threw  off  his  yoke,  slaying  and  banishing  his 
naturally  hated  religious  emissaries.  It  was  only 
at  the  end  of  thirty  years,  in  804,  that  the  conquest 
was  finally  completed. 

343.  But  whatever  the  worldly  ambitions  of  Charle- 
magne, there  were  many  earnest  and  sincere  mission- 
aries of  the  cross  who  followed  his  conquests  with 


308  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

gentleness  and  light.  He  was  wise  enough  to  call 
into  the  service  many  evangelists  from  the  English 
branch  of  the  Saxons.  One  of  these,  "Willchad,  of 
Northumbria,  was  sent  into  Saxony  in  779.  Six  years 
later,  though  he  had  been  driven  out  of  the  country 
once  in  the  meantime  by  the  stubborn  Saxons,  he  had 
the  privilege  of  baptizing  Wittekind,  their  most  able 
and  vigorous  chief. 

344.  One  of  Charlemagne's  chief  spiritual  advisers 
at  home  was  the  scholarly  Englishman  Alcuin.  Al- 
cuin  told  the  Emperor  with  perfect  plainness  that 
Christians  could  be  made  only  by  the  gospel  and  not  by 

the  sword. 

"Faith,"  he  said,  "must  be  accepted  voluntarily,  and  cannot 
be  enforced.  A  man  must  be  drawn  to  it,  he  cannot  be  com- 
pelled to  accept  it;  you  may  drive  men  to  baptism,  but  you 
cannot«make  them  take  a  single  step  toward  religion.  There- 
fore it  is  that  those  who  would  evangelize  the  heathen  should 
address  them  prudently  and  temperately;  for  the  Lord  knows 
the  hearts  of  his  chosen  ones  and  opens  them  to  understand 
His  word.  .  .  .  Let  the  preachers  of  the  faith,  then,  learn 
by  the  example  of  the  apostles ;  let  them  be  preachers  and  not 
spoilers ;  and  let  them  trust  in  him  of  whom  the  prophet  bears 
witness,  that  he  will  never  abandon  those  who  hope  in  him." 
Sooner  or  later,  the  spirit  of  these  noble  words  had  its 
way  among  the  Saxons  and  they  became  among  the 
most  genuinely  devoted  of  all  the  people  converted  to 
Christianity.  In  this  connection  it  can  never  be  for- 
gotten that  seven  hundred  years  later  it  was  a  Saxon 
monk,  Martin  Luther,  who  led  the  world  into  more 
spiritual  forms  of  Christianity. 

345.  The  German  peoples  further  north  and  east 
were  converted  very  largely  by  military  and  political 


GERMANIC    REGIONS.  309 

means.  The  people  in  what  is  now  East  Prussia  have 
since  expanded  into  the  chief  German  state  and  have 
given  rule  to  the  whole  German  Empire,  but  they 
were  very  late  in  accepting  Christianity.  The  first 
missionaries  to  approach  them  were  Adelbert,  of  Bo- 
hemia and  Bruno,  of  Saxony  just  before  and  after  the 
year  1000.  They  were  both  quickly  martyred.  The 
next  two  missionaries,  two  hundred  years  later,  met 
the  same  fate.  It  was  not  until  1209  that  Christianity 
gained  a  foothold  among  them.  Then  it  was  through 
the  ministry  of  Christian,  a  Cistercian  of  Pomerania. 
He  led  many  to  Christ. 

346.  Most  of  the  early  missionaries  were  Domini- 
cans, of  whom  Hyacinth,  a  Polander,  was  the  most 
eminent.  But  the  actual  subduing  of  the  country  to 
the  Christian  name  was  accomplished  by  the  military 
ardor  of  the  Teutonic  Knights.  It  was  often  a  bloody 
work.  But  their  commander,  Herman  Balk,  was  a 
sincere  crusader  and  endeavored  to  replace  force  by 
Christian  kindness  as  much  as  possible.  By  1283  the 
cross  had  nominally  triumphed.  But  the  method  of 
conversion  and  the  fact  that  the  Knights  remained  in 
permanent  possession  of  vast  estates,  kept  an  under- 
current of  hostility.  Old  pagan  customs  were  cher- 
ished generation  after  generation.  The  people  were 
never  completely  weaned  away  from  heathenism,  till 
they  eagerly  joined  the  Lutheran  revolt  against  the 
church  which  had  outwardly  subjugated  them. 

347.  The  last  Germanic  land  to  yield  to  Christianity 
was  Lithuania.  Down  almost  to  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth    century    Christianity    was    only    tolerated 


3IO  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

there  by  the  still  heathen  ruler,  Gedimin.  His  suc- 
cessor, Olgerd,  favored  Christianity.  Jagello,  the  son 
of  Olgerd,  succeeded  in  putting  a  nominal  end  to 
heathenism  in  Lithuania,  A.  D.  1386.  He  gave  a  woolen 
coat  to  every  one  who  received  baptism  and  they  came 
in  great  numbers. 

348.  From  the  Goths  and  Franks  on  through  to  the 
Prussians  and  Lithuanians  it  took  a  thousand  years 
to  bring  the  Germanic  tribes  under  the  sway,  even  the 
outward  sway,  of  the  religion  of  Christ. 

That  millennium  is  a  complete  answer  to  flippant 
critics  who  decry  modern  missionary  efforts  because  in 
a  few  scores  of  years  the  vast  populations  of  Asia  have 
not  accepted  Christianity.  Germany  was  a  thinly  peo- 
pled forest  of  uncivilized,  unsophisticated  people.  Ten 
millenniums  would  be  no  longer,  in  proportion  to  the 
numbers  and  the  profoundly  entrenched  religions  of 
India  and  China,  then  one  millennium  was  for  Ger- 
manic lands. 


CHAPTER   XX 


SCANDINAVIAN  AND  SLAVONIC  REGIONS. 


349.  The  Scandinavians.  350.  Willibrord.  351.  Har- 
old Klak.  352.  Ansgar.  353.  Reverses.  354  The 
third  mission  to  Denmark.  355.  Ansgar's  success. 
356.  Canute  the  Great.  357.  Denmark  the  promoter  of 
modern  missions.  358.  Ansgar's  work  in  Sweden. 
359.  Destruction  of  the  mission.  360.  Re-establishment. 
361.  Sweden  evangelized.  362.  The  subjugation  of  Nor- 
way. 363.  King  Olaf  Tryggvison.  364.  King  Olaf 
Haroldson.  365.  English  missions  to  Norway.  366. 
The  apostles  of  the  Slavs.  367.  Mission  to  the  Crimea. 
368.  The  Bulgarians.  369.  An  artist's  mission.  370. 
Bohemia.  371.  Origin  of  Slavonic  literature.  372. 
Religion  in  the  current  speech.  373.  Second  summons 
to  Rome.  374.  A  missionary  educator.  375.  Olga. 
376.  Vladimir.  377.  The  Greek  "philosopher's"  appeal. 
378.  The  visit  to  Constantinople.  379.  The  baptism  of 
Vladimir.  380.  Christianizing  by  force.  381.  Polit- 
ical conversions.  382.  Pomerania.  383.  Otho.  384. 
Hard-won  victories. 

349.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  best  ancient  copy  of 
Ulfilas'  Bible  is  preserved  at  the  University  of  Upsila. 
The  Goths  were  the  first  of  the  Germanic  stock  to  be 
evangelized  and  the  Scandinavians  the  last  large  body 
of  them  to  receive  the  gospel.  The  peninsula  of  Den- 
mark had  been  the  mother  country  of  mighty  men,  the 

3ii 


312  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

conquerers  and  settlers  of  both  Saxon  England  and 
Saxon  Germany.  The  Northmen  colonized  also  parts 
of  France  and  even  established  kingdoms  in  Russia  and 
in  Sicily.  The  Scandinavian  peoples  were  the  hard- 
iest, roughest,  fiercest,  of  the  whole  titanic  stock  of 
Teutons.  They  were  characterized  by  purity  of  family 
life  and  by  utterly  unmeasured  devotion  to  friends  and 
to  enterprises  of  daring.  But  they  were  as  nearly  in- 
human as  men  could  be  in  eating  and  drinking  and  in 
the  savage  treatment  of  their  enemies.  They  had  no 
taste  for  the  gospel  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  The 
gentle  teachings  of  Christianity  seemed  to  them  effem- 
inate and  totally  demoralizing. 

350.  The  English  apostle  of  Holland,  Willibtord* 
was  the  first  missionary  to  the  Danes.  He  entered 
the  country  near  the  close  of  the  seventh  century.  Find- 
ing that  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  remain  he  re- 
deemed from  slavery  thirty  boys  by  purchase,  in  order 
that  he  might  educate  them  to  evangelize  their  own 
country.  On  his  retreat  he  and  his  party  were 
wrecked  on  an  island.  While  there  he  baptized  three 
of  his  young  Danes  in  a  sacred  pool  of  the  island. 
This  pollution  of  the  sacred  water,  as  they  considered 
it,  greatly  infuriated  the  natives.  When  confronted 
by  them,  Willibrord  bore  himself  in  such  an  undaunt- 
ed manner  as  to  win  the  admiration  of  the  natives. 
His  fearlessness  was  a  trait  of  character  which  they 
could  appreciate.  His  Northumbrian  forefathers  had 
come  from  Denmark.  He  had  the  same  indomitable 
blood  as  the  islanders.  He  denounced  their  super- 
stition without  stint  and  proclaimed  the  gospel  so  ear- 


SCANDINAVIAN  AND  SLAVONIC  REGIONS.  313 

nestly  that  Radbod,  the  chief  of  the  island,  was  favor- 
ably impressed.  But  there  appears  to  have  been  no 
permanent  result.    This  was  about  the  year  700. 

351.  It  was  not  until  822  that  continuous  mission- 
ary work  for  Denmark  began.  Harold  Klak  appealed 
to  the  Emperor  of  the  Franks,  Charlemagne's  son 
Louis,  to  favor  his  claim  to  the  throne  of  Denmark. 
Louis,  called  the  Pious,  responded  favorably  and  took 
advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  send  missionaries. 
Their  leader  was  no  less  a  personage  than  Ebo,  Bishop 
of  Rheims,  the  Primate  of  France.  His  missionary  zeal 
took  him  to  Denmark  again  and  again.  He  baptized 
converts  and  established  a  station  at  Welnau.  But 
after  a  time,  King  Harold  was  compelled  to  flee  to 
Louis  for  protection.  Near  Mayence  the  king,  queen 
and  retinue  were  baptized,  with  Louis  and  Empress 
Judith  as  sponsors. 

352.  It  was  desired  now  to  send  some  one  with  the 
returning  royal  family  to  be  a  permanent  missionary. 
Who  would  go?  The  terrible  reputation  of  the  Danes 
for  barbarity  made  most  men  unwilling.  But  there 
was  a  young  man  in  the  monastery  of  Corwey  who 
longed  for  difficult  and  dangerous  service.  His  name 
was  Ansgar.  He  had  often  dreamed  of  high  and  peril- 
ous undertakings.  His  comrades  sought  in  vain  to 
deter  him  by  portraying  the  savage  ways  of  the  Danes. 
But  there  was  one  fellow-monk,  Autbert  who  decided 
to  go  with  him.  Emperor  Louis  fitted  them  out  with 
an  ample  equipment.  Once  in  Denmark  Ansgar  be- 
gan to  preach  with  burning  zeal,  reinforcing  his  words 
by  Christ-like  ministries  to  the  people  in  their  com- 


3I4  TW0   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

mon  trials.  The  central  station  was  at  Hedeby,  in 
Schleswig.  A  number  were  baptized.  Twelve  boys 
were  bought  to  be  not  only  rescued  from  slavery 
but  also  to  be  taught  Christianity.  This  work  began 
in  827.  After  two  years,  King  Harold  was  again 
driven  from  the  country  and  Ansgar  with  him.  Aut- 
bert  had  been  compelled  to  relinquish  the  work  by 
sickness. 

353.  After  another  two  years,  during  which  Ansgar 
opened  a  mission  in  Sweden,  he  was  made  Archbishop 
of  Hamburg,  in  order  that  he  might  there  have  a 
basis  of  missionary  operations  for  all  Scandinavia. 
The  emperor  endowed  the  mission  with  the  revenues 
of  a  rich  monastery  in  West  Flanders.  Thus  equipped 
Ansgar  was  beginning  again  to  make  good  headway 
in  Denmark,  when  there  came  an  incursion  of  heathen 
Danes,  Vikings,  which  completely  destroyed  the  mis- 
sionary establishment  in  Hamburg,  church  building, 
school  and  library,  including  even  Ansgar's  precious 
Bible.  Bibles  were  difficult  to  get  in  those  days.  This 
one  had  been  given  him  by  the  emperor.  The  mission- 
ary had  not  where  to  lay  his  head,  but  was  driven  from 
one  hiding-place  to  another.  When  he  turned  to  the 
Bishop  of  Bremen  that  functionary  refused  him  shel- 
ter because  he  was  jealous  of  the  new  see  of  Ham- 
burg, which  had  been  established  so  near  his  own. 
Meantime  a  new  emperor  gave  away  to  another  the 
monastery  in  Flanders.  But  Ansgar  was  as  devout  in 
adversity  as  in  prosperity.  He  exclaimed  with  Job, 
"The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away; 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord." 


SCANDINAVIAN  AND  SLAVONIC  REGIONS.         315 

354.  After  more  political  changes  and  the  death  of 
the  Bishop  of  Bremen,  the  sees  of  Bremen  and  Ham- 
burg were  united  with  Ansgar  in  charge.  Now  for 
the  third  time  the  way  opened  for  the  proclamation 
of  the  gospel  in  Denmark.  This  was  in  847.  Ansgar 
at  last  won  Horic,  the  very  king  who  had  driven  out 
Harold  and  had  been  a  bitter  enemy  of  Christianity. 
Ansgar  did  such  friendly  service  in  negotiations  with 
the  emperor,  that  Horic  became  much  attached  to  him 
and  gave  him  full  liberty  to  prosecute  his  mission. 
Many  converts  were  made  and  a  church  building  was 
erected  at  Hedeby,  the  first  in  Denmark. 

355.  One  more  storm  swept  over  the  work.  The 
heathen  party  arose  and  Horic  was  slain,  his  young 
grandson  Horic  being  enthroned  under  a  violent  pagan 
regency.  But  after  a  little  Horic  II  threw  off  the 
regency  and  gave  liberty  to  propagate  Christianity. 
Now  for  the  fourth  time  Ansgar  set  to  work  with 
a  will  and  wras  permitted  to  see  Christianity  well 
planted  in  Denmark,  both  in  Schleswig  and  in  Jut- 
land. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  times  to  ascribe  miracles 
to  any  Christian  worker  who  was  eminently  useful. 
The  true  spirit  of  Ansgar  shines  out  in  his  words  to 
those  who  wished  to  ascribe  miracles  to  him.  "One 
miracle  I  would,  if  worthy,  ask  the  Lord  to  grant 
me,  and  that  is  that  by  his  grace  he  would  make  me 
a  good  man." 

There  was  a  superstition  among  the  heathen  Danes 
against  church  bells,  lest  they  cast  a  Christian  spell 
over  the  people.     It  was  therefore  a  great  day  for  the 


316  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

mission  when  by  permission  of  Horic  a  church  bell 
rang  out  for  the  first  time  in  the  land. 

356.  Ansgar  had  made  a  noble  beginning.  But  it 
took  nearly  two  hundred  years  after  his  death  in  865 
completely  to  Christianize  rugged  little  Denmark. 
There  were  frequent  alternations  of  pagan  and  Chris- 
tian rulers.  In  the  first  half  of  the  eleventh  century 
Canute  the  Great  was  King  of  England  and  Denmark. 
His  father,  Sweyn,  a  fierce  pagan,  had,  like  the  Danes 
of  six  hundred  years  before,  conquered  all  England. 
But  Canute  embraced  Christianity  and  sought  to  intro- 
duce it  throughout  Denmark.  By  introducing  a  mul- 
titude of  English  missionaries  and  stationing  them 
everywhere  in  the  land  he  practically  accomplished 
his  purpose  before  his  death  in  1035.  It  was  a  gen- 
eration later,  however,  in  1060,  when  the  last  portion 
of  Denmark,  the  island  of  Bornholm,  yielded  to  Christ. 

357.  It  is  said  that  the  names  of  the  martyrs  of 
early  Christianity  in  Denmark  would  fill  a  volume. 
We  need  not  be  surprised,  then,  that  the  first  encour- 
agement of  modern  missions  was  found  there.  The 
first  modern  missionaries  to  India  and  to  Greenland 
were  sent  out  by  the  King  of  Denmark.  The  Mora- 
vian missions  were  befriended  there.  Since  Denmark 
owed  her  first  missionary  and  her  final  missionaries 
to  England  it  was  a  fitting  thing  that  she  should  pro- 
tect Carey  and  the  first  band  of  English  missionaries 
to  India  from  the  hostility  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany. 

358.  Christianity  came  into  Sweden,  as  nearly  every- 
where else,  first  informally,  through  the  ordinary  inter- 


SCANDINAVIAN  AND  SLAVONIC  REGIONS.        2>l7 

course  of  war  and  trade.  King  Bjorn  sent  word  to 
Germany  that  there  were  Christian  merchants  and 
captives  in  his  dominion  who  would  like  the  ministry 
of  Christian  priests.  The  word  reached  Ansgar  at 
the  moment  when  he  was  driven  from  Denmark  on 
the  expulsion  of  Harold.  Instead  of  going  south- 
ward to  safety  and  comfort,  Ansgar  took  some  com- 
panions and  plunged  into  the  wild  North.  Crossing 
the  channel  between  Denmark  and  Sweden  they  were 
overhauled  by  Norse  pirates  and  stripped  of  every- 
thing. On  reaching  land  they  wandered  over  regions 
of  dismal  forest  and  across  lakes  which  seemed  seas. 
Ansgar's  comrades  counselled  return.  But  he  held 
them  on  their  way  till  at  last  they  reached  the  king. 
Though  they  came  without  the  customary  presents 
and  entirely  destitute,  King  Bjorn  received  them 
kindly  and  gave  them  opportunity  to  preach  Christ. 
They  not  only  ministered  to  such  Christians  as  they 
found  but  were  soon  instrumental  in  converting 
pagans.  Herigar,  the  Governor  of  Birka,  became  a 
Christian  and  proved  to  be  a  staunch  defender  and 
promoter  of  the  faith.  He  immediately  built  a  chape) 
for  the  mission. 

359.  After  eighteen  months  Ansgar  went  to  Ger- 
many to  secure  a  strong  basis  for  his  various  mis- 
sionary enterprises.  In  834  he  sent  Gautbert,  a 
nephew  of  Bishop  Ebo,  to  Sweden  accompanied  by 
Nithard  and  other  missionaries.  The  work  prospered 
so  greatly  that  the  heathen  were  aroused  to  bitter 
opposition.  At  length  even  Herigar  could  no  longer 
hold  back  the  tide.    A  fierce  mob  broke  into  the  mis- 


318  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

sion  house  and  murdered  Nithard.  They  manacled 
Gautbert  and  sent  him  out  of  Sweden.  News  of  this 
reached  Ansgar  as  he  was  himself  fleeing  from  the 
smoking  ruins  of  his  Hamburg  establishment,  laid 
waste  by  the  Norse  marauders. 

360.  It  was  seventeen  years  before  circumstances 
permitted  Ansgar  to  visit  Sweden  again.  As  long  as 
the  noble  Herigar  lived  he  had  kept  the  Christians 
together.  But  on  his  death  the  cause  seemed  to  be 
lost.  On  his  second  visit  Ansgar  was  not  a  forlorn  sup- 
pliant, but  had  the  advantage  of  ecclesiastical  distinc- 
tion and  of  an  imperial  commission.  Such  outward 
pomp  tended  to  make  an  impression  on  the  mind  of 
Olaf,  the  king.  A  council  was  called.  One  of  the 
Swedish  nobles  was  earnest  in  advocating  that  Chris- 
tianity be  given  a  hearing  in  the  land,  as  having  a 
God  stronger  than  Thor.  The  point  was  carried. 
Ansgar  remained  in  Sweden  two  years.  Before  he 
left  the  church  in  Birka  was  rebuilt.  Erimbert,  a 
nephew  of  the  former  missionary  Gautbert,  carried  on 
the  work  vigorously,  assisted  by  two  Danes,  Ansfrid 
and  Rimbert. 

361.  There  was  not  much  more  violent  opposition, 
but  the  mission  was  not  very  aggressive  for  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years  after  the  days  of  Ansgar.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century  English  mis- 
sionaries, Sigffid,  Boduff,  Sigward  and  others,  en- 
tered Sweden.  They  led  King  Olaf  Skotkonung  to 
Christ  and  baptized  him  in  1008.  Sigfrid  and  his 
comrades  succeeded  in  establishing  Christianity  to  the 
exclusion  of  paganism  in  soaithern  Sweden.    The  more 


SCANDINAVIAN    AND    SLAVONIC    REGIONS.         319 

inaccessible  regions  of  northern  Sweden  were  not 
brought  to  Christ  till  the  next  century.  At  Upsala 
as  late  as  1080  Inge,  King  of  Upper  Sweden,  was 
mobbed  for  adhering  to  Christianity.  One  of  his  suc- 
cessors, Eric,  who  died  in  1160,  succeeded  in  bringing 
all  his  realm  nominally  into  the  fold  of  Christ. 

362.  The  subjugation' of  Norway  under  the  banner 
of  the  cross  is  hardly  a  part  of  missionary  history. 
It  is  full  of  incident  and  adventure,  thrilling  to  the 
last  degree.  But  it  is  more  closely  allied  to  the  cru- 
sades than  to  missions,  except  that  it  resulted,  as  the 
crusades  did  not,  in  conversion.  Three  Norwegian 
kings  in  the  century  between  A.  D.  934  and  1034 
brought  about  the  result.  They  were  Hakon  the  Good, 
Olaf  Tryggvesson  and  Olaf  Haroldson.  Hakon  had 
been  educated  in  England,  where  he  became  a  sincere 
believer  in  Christianity.  On  gaining  the  throne  he 
kept  his  religion  in  the  background  until  he  had  won 
the  hearty  admiration  and  affection  of  his  people.  He 
gradually  brought  over  priests  from  England  and  led 
his  close  friends  into  the  faith.  Then  he  assembled 
a  great  council,  called  a  Thing,  at  which  he  person- 
ally pleaded  with  the  people  to  accept  Christianity. 
But  they  were  not  ready,  and  their  spokesman,  begin- 
ning with  strong  professions  of  loyalty,  went  so  far 
as  to  make  it  plain  that,  unless  the  king  withdrew  his 
proposition,  the  people  would  revolt.  Finally,  through 
the  adroit  management  of  Jarl  Sigurd,  one  of  Hakon's 
most  loyal  and  astute  advisers,  the  king  was  led  to 
take  some  small  part  in  a  pagan  feast.  When  he 
made  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  it  the  people  were  dis- 


320  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

tressed  till  Sigurd  explained  that  it  was  really  the  sign 
of  Thor's  hammer  that  the  king  had  made.  Indignant 
with  himself,  Hakon  determined  to  enforce  Christian- 
ity.    Insurrection  followed,  in  which  he  was  slain. 

363.  After  two  or  three  ineffective  reigns  Olaf  Tryg- 
gvison,  a  Viking  of  Vikings,  came  to  the  throne. 
In  his  roving  life  he  too  had  learned  Christianity  in 
England,  if  Christianity  it  may  be  called  which  actu- 
ated him.  He  used  all  his  power  and  even  resorted 
to  tricks  to  force  the  people  to  be  baptized.  More 
than  once  at  great  assemblies  of  the  Northmen  he 
gave  them  the  choice  between  being  baptized  and 
fighting  him. 

364.  Olaf  Haroldson  pursued  the  same  policy  and 
practically  extirpated  idolatry.  He  drew  ecclesiastics 
largely  from  England  and  established  them  every- 
where. The  people  revolted,  accepting  Danish  rule. 
But  it  was  so  cruel  that  they  reacted  toward  Olaf 
and  within  a  year  after  his  death  they  began  to  count 
him  a  saint.  His  popular  canonization  had  much  to 
do  with  firmly  fastening  Christianity — so-called,  at 
least — in  the  hearts  of  the  Norwegians. 

365.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  most  of  what 
real  missionary  work  was  done  in  the  Christianization 
of  Norway  was  done  by  Englishmen.  As  we  have 
seen,  this  was  true  to  a  considerable  extent  also  in 
Sweden  and  in  Denmark.  The  people  of  Scandinavian 
lands  conquered,  colonized  and  gave  name  to  England. 
They  conquered  and  ruled  it  again  in  the  time  of  Sweyn 
and  Canute.  Once  more  in  the  Norman  conquest 
they  poured  fresh  Norse  blood  into  the  old  stream. 


SCANDINAVIAN  AND  SLAVONIC  REGIONS.         32 1 

In  England,  as  Englishmen,  the  race  was  spiritualized 
to  some  extent  and  in  that  form  came  back  to  its  home- 
lands to  bring  the  best  that  it  had  learned  abroad — 
Christianity. 

366.  The  apostles  of  the  Slavic  race  were  born  in 
Thessalonica,  about  775  years  after  Paul  had  planted 
Christianity  there.  They  were  two  brothers — Constan- 
tine,  better  known  as  Cyril  and  Methodius. 
Many  Slavs  had  settled  in  Macedonia.  Whether  of 
Slavic  extraction  or  not,  these  boys  grew  up  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  Slavic  tongue  as  well  as  of  the  Greek. 
Their  Christian  father,  Leon,  gave  them  a  careful 
Christian  nurture. 

In  early  youth  their  lives  took  on  an  earnest  temper. 
Their  subsequent  history  proved  it  to  be  genuine.  In 
their  university  careers  at  Constantinople,  Cyril  came 
to  be  known  as  the  "Philosopher,"  and  Methodius  as  a 
painter.  The  marked  ability  of  Cyril  led  the  Emperor 
Theophilus  to  have  his  own  son  educated  in  close  com- 
panionship with  him.  High  prospects  of  matrimonial 
and  political  preferment  were  held  before  him. 

367.  But  the  spiritual  heritage  of  the  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles  was  deep  in  these  Macedonian  men.  A  call 
came  for  missionaries  to  the  Chazars,  a  Turanian  peo- 
ple living  in  the  Crimea.  Cyril  and  Methodius  re- 
sponded. The  king  of  the  Chazars  had  been  beset  by 
both  Jews  and  Mohammedans  to  give  up  idolatry. 
Hence  he  had  sent  to  Constantinople  for  light.  The 
missionaries  persuaded  him  and  many  of  his  people 
to  accept  Christianity. 

368.  There  was  another  people  of  Turanian  stock, 


322  TWO    THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

though  largely  Slavized,  living  north  of  Constantinople 
— the  Bulgarians.  They  were  counted,  next  to  their 
cousins  the  Huns,  the  most  terrible  of  the  barbarians. 
Tacitus  had  spoken  of  the  Finns,  from  whom  the  Bul- 
garians sprang  as  a  "marvelously  savage  race,"  hav- 
ing "neither  arms,  horses  nor  household  gods ;  their 
food  is  herbage,  their  clothing  skins,  their  sleeping 
place  the  bare  ground ;  their  only  hope  of  sustenance 
rests  in  their  arrows,  which  from  want  of  iron  they 
point  with  bones."  A  few  years  before  the  time  of 
which  we  are  speaking,  the  Eastern  Emperor  Niceph- 
arus  had  been  barbarously  slain  by  them  and  his  skull 
had  been  turned  into  a  drinking  bowl.  The  name  of 
their  king  has  a  suitably  savage  sound,  Bogoris.  To 
him  and  his  wild  tribesmen  Cyril  and  Methodius  deter- 
mined to  go  as  missionaries.  To  such  people,  how- 
ever, Cyril  preached  the  good  message  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace  with  little  effect. 

369.  Bogoris  wanted  a  gorgeous  palace  for  himself 
and  ordered  the  artist  missionary,  Methodius,  to  paint 
the  walls  of  the  great  hall  with  a  picture  which  would 
strike  terror  into  every  beholder.  Methodius,  with  the 
gifts  of  a  Byzantine  colorist,  painted  for  a  higher 
Master  than  Bogoris.  When  the  painting  was  uncov- 
ered before  the  eyes  of  the  rough  chieftain  and  his 
followers,  it  fulfilled  his  specification.  It  struck  terror 
to  all  hearts.  It  was  the  scene  of  the  last  judgment. 
The  king  and  some  of  his  nobles  at  once  yielded  to 
the  supremacy  of  Christ  and  were  baptized.  This 
was  in  861.  A  pagan  party  soon  made  insurrection, 
but  was  overcome,  and  Christianity  was  permanently 
established. 


SCANDINAVIAN  AND  SLAVONIC  REGIONS.         323 

370.  Pure  Slavonic  peoples  inhabited  the  lands  far 
to  the  northwest  of  Bulgaria  in  the  kingdoms  of  Mora- 
via and  Bohemia.  Ratislav,  King  of  Moravia,  encour- 
aged the  Macedonians  to  plant  Christianity  in  his 
realm.  They  made  many  converts  and  founded  not 
a  few  churches  and  schools.  This  work  began  in 
863.  Eight  years  later  the  Duke  of  Bohemia,  Bor- 
ziwoi,  visited  the  Moravian  king  and  Methodius  took 
the  opportunity  to  urge  on  him  the  religion  of  Christ. 
Before  leaving  the  Moravian  court,  Borziwoi  and 
thirty  of  his  attendants,  having  received  Christ,  were 
baptized.  So  the  stream  of  Macedonian  life  poured 
into  Bohemia. 

371.  Cyril  and  Methodius  found  the  Slavonic  race 
without  a  written  language.  They  constructed  for  it 
an  alphabet  based  on  the  Greek.  Having  made  letters 
for  the  Slavs,  they  gave  them  a  literature.  They  trans- 
lated the  whole  Bible  into  Slavonian  and  created  a 
liturgy  in  that  tongue.  As  Max  Midler  says  :  "This  is 
still  the  authorized  version  of  the  Bible  for  the  Slav- 
onic race,  and  to  the  student  of  the  Slavonic  languages 
it  is  what  Gothic  is  to  the  student  of  German."  It 
is  interesting  to  trace  back  to  the  "Alpha,  Beta"  of 
Leon's  sons  in  Thessalonica  a  vast  stream  of  literature 
a  thousand  years  long,  which  flows  into  our  own  lives 
with  Tourgueneff  and  Tolstoi. 

372.  But  the  great  significance  of  the  literary  work 
of  Cyril  and  Methodius  is  that  the  Bible  and  liturgy 
which  they  gave  to  the  Slavs  of  Central  Europe  in 
their  own  tongue  became  a  leading  factor  in  the  his- 
tory of  Christendom. 


324  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

Immediately  Latin  Christianity  fomented  bitter 
opposition  to  the  spread  of  religion  in  the  Slavonic 
vernacular.  Cyril  and  Methodius  were  summoned  to 
Rome.  There  Cyril  died.  Methodius  made  so  favor- 
able an  impression  on  the  Pope  that  in  spite  of  the 
vulgar  tongue  for  the  Bible  on  which  he  insisted,  he 
was  returned  to  his  mission  field  with  the  title  of 
Archbishop  of  Moravia. 

The  struggle  for  religion  in  the  Slavonic  vernacular 
was  not  ended.  It  was  just  beginning.  Europe  imme- 
diately rang  with  one  phase  of  the  battle.  Hincmar, 
Archbishop  of  Rheims;  Odo,  Bishop  of  Beauvais; 
iEneas  of  Paris;  and  others,  shouted  themselves  hoarse 
in  the  insistence  that  Slavonic  Christianity  must  be 
utterly  Latinized. 

373.  Agitation  against  the  methods  of  Methodius 
became  growingly  bitter.  He  was  summoned  a  second 
time  to  Rome.  Another  Pope,  John  VIII,  was  in 
the  chair.  The  brave  apostle  to  the  Slavs  faced  him 
in  long  and  earnest  discussion  with  arguments  from 
both  reason  and  Scripture.  Methodius  won  the  con- 
cession that  the  Moravians  might  come  to  God  in  their 
mother  tongue,  and  returned  to  push  his  mission.  But 
many  papists  were  narrower  than  the  Pope  and  antag- 
onized seriously  the  work  of  Methodius  to  the  end  of 
his  days. 

374.  One  of  the  disciples  of  Methodius,  Clement, 
became  a  very  effective  missionary  among  Bulgarian 
settlers  about  Ochrida,  in  the  extreme  western  por- 
tion of  Macedonia,  on  the  border  of  Albania.  He  not 
only  preached  and  wrote  out  simple  discourses  for 


SCANDINAVIAN  AND  SLAVONIC  REGIONS.  325 

the  people  to  read  in  their  own  tongue,  but  also  took 
great  pains  in  teaching  the  children.  To  diffuse  edu- 
cation, he  carefully  trained  a  company  of  young  men 
for  teachers.  He  sought  to  improve  the  condition  of 
the  people  by  introducing  new  kinds  of  fruit  trees  and 
to  refine  their  taste  by  giving  them  beautiful  church 
architecture  and  other  fine  arts. 

375.  The  largest  direct  service  of  Cyril  and  Metho- 
dius to  the  world  was  in  furnishing  letters  and  the 
Scriptures  to  Russia.  The  first  living  bearers  of  the 
Good  News  to  the  Russians  were  men  brought  in  con- 
tact with  Byzantine  Christianity  by  the  vicissitudes 
of  war  and  trade.  The  first  eminent  disciple  of  Christ 
in  Russia  was  the  Princess  Olga.  She  had  learned 
enough  of  Christianity  there  to  wish  to  know  more. 
Hence  she  made  a  journey  to  Constantinople.  There 
she  was  baptized  by  the  patriarch,  the  emperor  stand- 
ing sponsor.  On  her  return  to  Russia  she  endeavored 
to  bring  her  son,  Sviatoslav,  to  the  new  faith.  But 
he  was  too  much  absorbed  in  war  to  care  much  for 
religion.  He,  however,  allowed  Olga  and  all  who 
joined  her  in  faith  to  exercise  freedom  of  conscience 
in  their  worship.  He  even  allowed  his  children  to 
be  instructed  by  her. 

376.  The  grandson  of  Olga,  Vladimir,  who  became 
Grand  Prince  in  980,  was  for  a  time  a  vigorous  pagan, 
even  compelling  human  sacrifices.  The  story  of  his 
adoption  of  the  Christian  faith  is  unique,  even  in  the 
long  and  varied  history  of  missions.  Mohammedan 
missionaries  came,  urging  him  to  adopt  their  prophet. 
The  reason  he  gave  for  not  doing  so  was  much  more 


326  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

to  their  credit  than  his.  As  they  expounded  to  him 
their  tenets  he  exclaimed  :  "Drink  no  wine !  Drink- 
ing is  the  great  delight  of  the  Russians ;  we  can  not 
live  without  it."  Next  the  Jews  living  among  the 
Chazars  in  the  Crimea  sent  their  missionaries  to  Vladi- 
mir, trying  to  persuade  him,  as  their  ancestors  had 
tried  to  persuade  their  immediate  neighbors,  to  em- 
brace Judaism.  They  spoke  to  Vladimir  in  glowing 
terms  about  Jerusalem.  But  in  answer  to  his  questions 
they  had  to  confess  that  for  their  sins  they  had  been 
dispersed  through  all  lands.  He  wanted  nothing  of 
a  religion  which  had  no  country.  Then  came  mission- 
aries from  the  Roman  Church  and  told  him  about  the 
great  God  and  also  about  their  great  Pope.  "Return 
home,"  he  said,  "our  ancestors  did  not  receive  this 
religion  from  you."  The  leaven  of  Olga  was  working. 
377.  Then  came  a  missionary  of  the  Greek  Church 
who  was  called  a  "philosopher."  He  pointed  out  the 
errors  of  his  predecessors.  Vladimir  said  that  the 
Jews  had  told  him  that  both  the  Romanists  and  the 
Greeks  worshiped  one  whom  they,  the  Jews,  had  cru- 
cified. "That  is  even  so,"  admitted  the  Greek.  "But 
why  was  he  crucified?"  asked  the  king.  This  was  the 
missionary's  opportunity.  He  told  the  story  of  God's 
fellowship  with  us  through  Christ  in  suffering.  Vladi- 
mir was  convinced  at  heart.  But  the  cautious  king 
was  determined  to  be  deliberate  in  this  momentous 
affair.  The  following  year  he  called  his  councillors 
together  and  laid  the  question  before  them.  They 
advised  him  to  send  select  men  to  the  countries  where 
the  different  faiths  were  professed,  to  see  how  they 


SCANDINAVIAN  AND  SLAVONIC  REGIONS  32; 

worked  in  practice,  and  to  bring  home  a  report. 

378.  This  embassy  found  nothing  which  impressed 
them  favorably  until  they  came  to  Constantinople. 
The  wise  Emperor  Basil  secured  their  attendance  at 
a  service  in  St.  Sophia,  the  most  magnificent  church 
building  then  in  existence.  It  was  gorgeous  with 
gold  and  mosaics  in  the  true  Byzantine  style.  The 
patriarch  wore  his  most  resplendent  robes,  the  choir 
chanted  divinely,  innumerable  tapers  dazzled  the  eye, 
the  incense  intoxicated  the  senses.  When  the  deacons 
and  sub-deacons,  bearing  torches,  came  in  procession, 
wearing  white  surplices  with  high  wing-like  shoul- 
ders, and  all  the  vast  congregation  bowed  together  in 
worship,  the  simple-minded  Russians  grasped  their 
guides  and  said :  "This  is  supernatural !"  The  guides 
answered  :  "What !  Do  you  not  know  that  the  angels 
come  down  from  heaven  to  mingle  in  our  services?" 
"You  are  right,"  said  the  Russians,  "we  want  no  fur- 
ther proof;  send  us  home  again."  So  they  brought 
the  report  that  there  was  no  religion  to  be  considered 
but  the  Greek. 

379.  Still  cautious,  Vladimir  determined  to  test  the 
matter  in  his  own  warlike  fashion.  He  besieged  Kher- 
son in  the  Crimea,  vowing  that  if  he  took  it  he  would 
become  a  Christian.  Succeeding  in  that,  he  made  one 
more  condition.  He  wrote  to  the  Greek  emperor  that 
he  would  accept  his  religion  provided  he  would  give 
him  his  sister  in  marriage.  Princess  Anne  shrank 
from  the  proposal  of  the  barbarian,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  conversion  of  a  nation  she  sacrificed  herself. 
After  she  had  arrived  at  Kherson  Vladimir  was  finally 


328  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

baptized  (A.  D.  988).     Two  women,  Olga  and  Anne, 
were  the  apostles  of  all  the  Russias. 

380.  Vladimir,  his  bride  and  retinue  returned  to 
his  capital,  Kieff,  five  hundred  miles  up  the  Dnieper. 
He  proclaimed  Christianity  as  the  religion  of  his 
domain  and  had  the  national  idol,  Perun,  overthrown 
and  dragged  swiftly  across  country,  while  twelve 
horsemen  followed  flogging  the  degraded  god  to  the 
banks  of  the  river  and  there  tumbled  it  into  the  stream. 
The  horrified  people  held  their  breath  in  expectation 
of  some  terrible  avengement  of  the  sacrilege.  But 
when  Perun  disappeared  over  the  rapids,  paganism 
was  dead  in  Russia. 

Vladimir  ordered  all  the  people  to  assemble  at  the 
river  to  be  baptized.  So  the  vast  crowds  went  down 
into  the  water,  some  swimming,  some  wading  up  to 
the  neck,  some  carrying  their  children  in  their  arms, 
and  were  all  buried  in  a  wholesale  baptism  to  rise  a 
christened,  if  not  a  Christian,  nation. 

There  were  no  persecutions  in  Russia.  The  people 
followed  their  monarch.  They  called  him  "Isapos- 
tolas,"  equal  to  an  apostle.  The  people  had  the  Bible 
in  their  own  tongue,  thanks  to  Cyril  and  Methodius 
of  a  hundred  years  before,  and  were  able  in  time  to 
learn  something  of  the  Christianity  which  they  were 
forced  to  profess  in  ignorance. 

381.  The  story  of  the  conversion  of  the  other  Slav- 
onic tribes,  like  that  of  all  Eastern  Europe,  is  political 
and  military  rather  than  strictly  missionary.  But  many 
noble  characters  with  something  of  the  true  missionary 
spirit  in  them  may  be  seen  dimly  struggling  amid  the 
tumultuous  elements  of  the  times, 


SCANDINAVIAN   AND  SLAVONIC  REGIONS.  329 

Among  the  finest  characters  in  the  history  of  the 
conversion  of  Poland  were  Dambrowka,  the  first  wife 
and  Oda,  the  fourth  wife,  of  Duke  Mieceslav,  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  tenth  century.  Oda  had  been  a  nun, 
but  the  Roman  Church  allowed  her  to  marry  for  the 
sake  of  promoting  the  faith.  Later,  in  1034,  in  like 
manner  Prince  Cassimir,  who  had  entered  a  Benedict- 
ine monastery  in  Germany,  was  absolved  from  his 
vows  that  he  might  assume  the  throne  of  Poland 
which  was  his  by  hereditary  right. 

382.  Early  in  the  next  century  Pomerania  submit- 
ted to  the  rule  of  Poland,  promising  at  the  same  time 
to  adopt  Christianity.  But  it  was  difficult  to  find  any- 
one with  sufficient  courage  to  venture  as  a  missionary 
among  the  fierce  Pomeranians.  The  Polish  bishops 
absolutely  declined  to  go,  but  a  Spanish  friar  by  the 
name  of  Bernard  offered  himself.  The  barefooted 
mendicant  was  an  object  of  profound  contempt  to 
the  people.  When  he  told  them  that  he  was  a  mes- 
senger of  the  great  God  they  replied  that  such  a  being 
would  not  send  a  beggar  as  his  envoy.  Bernard  was 
obliged  to  flee. 

383.  It  was  necessary  to  send  a  man  of  personal 
eminence  and  attended  with  the  signs  of  rank  and  dig- 
nity. Otho,  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  Germany,  was  pre- 
vailed upon  to  undertake  the  task.  He  made  two  exten- 
sive missionary  tours  through  Pomerania  with  all  the 
pomp  available.  He  was  a  sincere  and  earnest  man, 
with  great  tact  and  determination.  In  spite  of  all  his 
abilities  and  all  his  accessories,  he  nearly  lost  his  life 
more  than  once  at  the  hands  of  the  people,    By  a  com- 


330  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

bination  of  diplomacy,  vigor  and  devotion  he  accom- 
plished his  purpose.  At  Pyritz  7,000  candidates  were 
led  into  the  waters  of  baptism.  This  was  done  with 
more  of  preparation  and  decorum  than  was  common  in 
those  times  in  that  part  of  the  world.  Yet  the  whole 
stay  at  Pyritz  was  but  twenty  days.  The  struggle 
was  more  intense  and  prolonged  at  Stettin  and  in  some 
other  places. 

384.  The  Wends  made  a  stubborn  resistance  to 
Christianity.  But  their  apostle  Vicelin  had  gained 
good  headway  among  them  before  his  death  in  11 54. 

The  island  of  Ruegen,  off  the  German  coast  of  the 
Baltic  Sea,  was  the  last  stronghold  of  paganism  in 
that  region.  It  contained  a  temple  of  Svanovit,  en- 
shrining a  colossal  image  of  that  deity.  After  the 
conquest  of  the  island  by  Denmark,  Absolom  of  Roes- 
kild  with  some  instructed  axe-bearers  tore  aside  the 
veil  of  the  temple  and  hewed  Svanovit  in  pieces  before 
the  eyes  of  the  horrified  populace  (A.  D.  1168). 

Finland  and  Lapland  were  not  finally  subdued  to 
the  rule  of  the  faith  of  Sweden  till  the  last  quarter 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  more  than  four  hundred 
years  after  Cyril  and  Methodius  began  to  evangelize 
the  Slavs. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

ICELAND,  GREENLAND  AND  LABRADOR. 

385.  Iceland  a  phenomenal  country.  386.  The  first 
missionaries.  387.  King  Olaf  Tryggvison  the  great  fac- 
tor in  the  conversion  of  Iceland.  388.  He  swims  for 
missions.  389.  His  bait  catches.  390.  The  converts 
save  the  day.  391.  An  imported  meeting-house.  392. 
Christianity  established  in  Iceland.  393.  Greenland  col- 
onized. 394.  Leif's  visit  to  Norway.  395.  Leif's  mis- 
sion. 396.  Christianity  in  Greenland.  397.  Leif's  dis- 
covery of  America.  398.  Hans  Egede.  399.  Gertrude 
Egede.  400.  First  missionary  work.  401.  Good  Hope 
mission.  402.  Difficulties.  403.  Moravian  missions. 
404.  Missionary  women.  405.  The  first  conversions. 
406.  Results  of  work.  407.  Complete  success.  408. 
Love  more  efficient  than  law.  409.  Christian  Erhard  in 
Labrador.  410.  Jens  Haven.  411.  George  III.  makes 
donation  to  missions.  412.  The  missionaries.  413. 
The  Privy  Council  of  England  makes  grant  for  missions. 
414.  Features  of  the  work.  415.  Results.  416.  Ships 
that  were  iceberg-proof. 

385.  Suspended  on  the  Arctic  Circle  is  one  of  the 
phenomenal  portions  of  the  earth,  Iceland ;  an  island 
of  fire  and  of  ice,  of  volcanoes  and  of  glaciers ;  counted 
good  for  nothing  but  pasturage,  yet  unshaded  by  a 
single  tree.  Though  six  hundred  tempestuous  miles 
from  the  mainland  of  Europe,  every  piece  of  lumber 
for  shelter  and  all  hreadstuffs  for  food  must  be  im- 

33i 


332  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

ported.  Extremely  poor  in  material  possessions,  iso- 
lated to  the  last  degree  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  and 
without  cities  of  its  own,  Iceland  has  been  for  a  thou- 
sand years  a  land  of  large  intellectual  life. 

In  the  early  part  of  this  millennium  it  produced  a 
literature  unequaled  by  that  of  any  other  land  in  those 
days,  a  literature  of  surpassing  interest  still.  The 
early  history  of  Scandinavia  was  written  not  on  the 
mainland  but  in  Iceland.  It  was  written,  too,  with  a 
wonderful  clearness  and  beauty.  The  best  pictures  we 
have  of  the  thought  and  life  of  o'ur  Teutonic  fore- 
fathers come  from  Iceland.  The  Eddas  give  us  their 
religious  ideas,  the  Sagas  (stories)  their  history.  At 
the  end  of  the  island's  millennium,  though  without 
public  schools,  Iceland  has  less  illiteracy  than  any 
other  land  on  earth.  Scattered  about  on  lonely  farm- 
steads, or  rather  cattle  and  sheep  ranches,  par- 
ents have  handed  on  to  children  from  generation  to 
generation  a  love  of  letters.  It  is  not  uncommon  for 
the  peasants  to  know,  not  only  their  own  national 
poetry  and  history,  but  also  several  European  lan- 
guages. Iceland,  even  more  than  England,  or  than 
Scandinavia  itself,  furnishes  a  demonstration  of  the 
tremendous  inherent  vigor  and  persistent  psychic  force 
of  the  Northmen  stock. 

King  Harold  Hair-fair  consolidated  the  kingdom 
of  Norway  and  ruled  it  with  such  a  ruthless  hand 
that  many  of  the  old  independent  nobles  emigrated  in 
various  directions.  Some  of  them  established  them- 
selves in  what  came  to  be  called  Normandy  and  thus 
became  the  Norman  rulers  of  England.    But  hundreds 


ICELAND,    GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  333 

of  the  more  peace-loving,  fine-spirited  and  cultivated 
families  colonized  Iceland,  going  a  few  at  a  time, 
through  a  considerable  period  before  and  after  the 
year  900.  There  they  founded  and  maintained  for 
four  hundred  years  the  only  absolutely  free  republic 
then  in  the  world.  Though  hardy  and  sturdy  in  the 
highest  degree,  they  were  the  portion  of  the  North- 
men who  preferred  industry  to  piracy  and  trade  to 
conquest. 

386.  The  migration  to  Iceland  was  consecrated  with 
solemn  sacrifices  to  Odin  and  the  other  gods  of  the 
Norse.  It  was  a  hundred  years  before  they  were  dis- 
placed by  the  true  God  and  his  Christ.  In  981,  an 
Icelander  by  the  name  of  Thorwald  traveling  in  Sax- 
ony and  becoming  acquainted  with  Christianity,  ac- 
cepted it  with  all  his  heart.  He  showed  his  sincerity 
by  persuading  Frederick  the  minister  who  baptized 
him,  to  go  with  him  on  a  mission  to  Iceland.  They 
labored  for  five  years  with  some  success,  but  were  then 
compelled  by  a  vote  of  the  Allthing  or  National  Coun- 
cil to  leave  the  island. 

One  of  the  good  stories  told  about  the  work  of 
Frederick  gives  an  interesting  episode  of  missionary 
life.  He  pitched  his  tent  near  a  heathen  temple  and 
began  to  preach  to  the  crowds.  The  wife  of  the  chief 
man  of  the  neighborhood  was  greatly  annoyed  that  a 
new  religion  should  be  preached.  So  she  went  into  the 
temple  and  began  to  pray  with  all  her  might  to  Thor. 
It  was  a  question  for  a  while  who  had  the  more  com- 
manding voice,  the  lady  of  the  manor  or  the  mission- 
ary. 


334  TW0    THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

The  Icelanders  were  in  frequent  communication 
with  their  mother  country,  Norway,  and  received 
Christianity  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  King  Olaf 
Tryggvison.  He  sent  Stefnin,  a  native  of  Iceland, 
also  his  own  chaplain,  Thangbrand,  a  Saxon.  The 
latter  was  a  fighting  chaplain,  and  when  the  sword 
of  the  spirit  failed  he  buckled  on  the  sword  of  Olaf. 
Many  of  the  people  turned  Thangbrand's  efforts  into 
a  laughing-stock;  nevertheless,  he  made  some  influ- 
ential converts. 

387.  The  most  decisive  influence  was  exerted  by  the 
great  personality  of  Olaf  himself.  The  account  as 
given  in  the  Sagas  (stories)  of  the  kings  written  by 
Snorri,  one  of  the  great  Icelandic  authors,  is  so  quaint 
and  charming  that  it  must  be  told  in  the  original 
account  as  rendered  into  English  with  suitable  flavor 
by  Morris  and  Magnusson.  It  shows  Olaf  in  a  better 
light  than  most  of  his  missionary  feats.  For  the  con- 
version of  Iceland,  he  could  not  depend  so  much  upon 
force  as  he  did  for  that  of  Norway.  Hence,  we  see 
him  using  consummate  tact  in  putting  himself  en  rap- 
port with  the  Icelanders  through  athletic  comrade- 
ship. 

"For  that  same  harvest  came  out  to  Nidaros  from  Iceland 
Kiartan,  the  son  of  Olaf,  the  son  of  Hoskuld,  and  the  son  also 
of  the  daughter  of  Egil  Skallagrimson,  which  Kiartan  hath 
been  called  nighabout  the  likeliest  and  goodliest  man  ever 
begotten  in  Iceland.  There  was  then  also  Haldor,  son  of 
Gudmund  of  Maddermead,  and  Kolbein,  son  of  Thord,  Frey's 
priest,  and  brother  of  Burning-Flossi ;  Sverting  also,  son  of 
Runolf  the  priest;  these  and  many  others,  mighty  and  un- 
mighty.  were  all  heathen. 


ICELAND,    GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  335 

"Therewith  also  were  come  from  Iceland  noble  men  who 
had  taken  christening  from  Thangbrand,  to  wit,  Gizur  the 
White,  the  son  of  Teit  Ketilbioon's  son,  whose  mother  was 
Alof,  daughter  of  Bodvar  the  Hersir,  son  of  Viking- Kari; 
but  the  brother  of  Bodvar  was  Sigurd,  father  of  Eric  Biodas- 
kalli,  the  father  of  Astrid,  mother  of  King  Olaf.  Another 
Icelander  hight  Hialti,  son  of  Skeggi ;  he  had  to  wife  Vil- 
borg,  daughter  of  Gizur  the  White.  Hialti  was  a  christened 
man,  and  King  Olaf  gave  full  kindly  welcome  to  father  and 
son-in-law,  Gizur  and  Hialti,  and  they  abode  with  him. 

"Now  those  Iceland  men  who  were  captains  of  the  ships, 
such  of  them  as  were  heathen,  sought  to  sail  away,  when  the 
King  was  come  into  the  town,  for  it  was  told  them  that  the 
King  would  christen  all  men  perforce ;  but  the  wind  was 
against  them,  and  they  were  driven  back  under  Nid-holm. 
These  were  the  captains  of  ships  there :  Thorarin  Nefiolfson, 
Hallfred  the  Skald,  son  of  Ottar,  Brand  the  Bountiful,  and 
Thorliek  Brandson.  Now  it  was  told  King  Olaf  that  there 
lay  certain  ships  of  Icelanders,  who  were  all  heathen  and 
would  flee  away  from  meeting  the  King.  So  he  sent  men  to 
them  forbidding  them  to  stand  out  to  sea,  bidding  them  go 
lie  off  the  town,  and  so  did  they,  but  unladed  not  their  ships 
[but  they  cried  a  market,  and  held  chaffer  by  the  king's 
bridges.  Thrice  in  the  spring-tide  they  sought  to  sail  away, 
but  the  wind  never  served,  and  they  lay  yet  by  the  bridges. 

388.  "Now  on  a  fair-weather  day  many  men  were  a-swim- 
ming  for  their  disport ;  and  one  man  of  them  far  outdid  the 
others  in  all  mastery.  Then  spake  Kiartan  with  Hallfred  the 
Troublous-skald  bidding  go  try  feats  of  swimming  with  this 
man,  but  he  excused  himself.  Said  Kiartan,  'Then  shall  I  try' ; 
and  cast  his  clothes  from  him  therewith,  and  leapt  into  the 
water,  and  struck  out  for  that  man,  and  caught  him  by  the 
foot  and  drew  him  under.  Up  they  come,  and  have  no  word 
together,  but  down  they  go  again,  and  are  under  water  much 
longer  than  the  first  time,  and  again  come  up,  and  hold  their 
peace,  and  go  down  again  the  third  time;  till  Kiartan  thought 
the  game  all  up,  but  might  nowise  amend  it,  and  now  knew 


33^  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

well  the  odds  of  strength  betwixt  them.  So  they  are  under 
water  there  until  Kiartan  is  well-nigh  spent;  then  up  they 
come  and  swim  to  land.  Then  asked  the  Northman  what 
might  the  Icelander's  name  be,  and  Kiartan  named  himself. 
Said  the  other,  'Thou  art  deft  at  swimming ;  hast  thou  any 
mastery  in  other  matters?'  Said  Kiartan,  'Little  mastery  is 
this.'  The  Northman  said,  'Why  asketh  me  nought  again?' 
Kiartan  answereth :  'Me-seemeth  it  is  not  to  me  who  thou  art, 
or  in  what  wise  thou  art  named.'  Answered  the  other :  'I 
will  tell  thee  then :  Here  is  Olaf  Tryggvison.'  And  therewith 
he  asked  him  many  things  of  the  Iceland  men,  and  lightly 
Kiartan  told  him  all,  and  therewith  was  minded  to  get  him 
away  hastily.  But  the  King  said :  'Here  is  a  cloak  which  I 
will  give  thee,  Kiartan.'  So  Kiartan  took  the  cloak,  and 
thanked  him  wondrous  well]. 

389.  "And  now  was  Michaelmas  come,  and  the  King  let  hold 
hightide,  and  sing  mass,  full  gloriously;  and  thither  went  the 
Icelanders,  and  hearken  the  fair  song,  and  the  voice  of  the 
bells.  And  when  they  came  back  to  their  ships,  each  man 
said  how  the  ways  of  the  Christian  men  liked  them,  and  Kiar- 
tan said  he  was  well  pleased,  but  most  other  mocked  at  them. 
And  so  it  went,  as  saith  the  saw,  Many  are  the  King's  ears, 
and  the  King  was  told  thereof.  So  forthwith  on  that  same 
day  he  sent  a  man  after  Kiartan  bidding  him  come  to  him ; 
and  Kiartan  went  to  the  King  with  certain  men,  and  the 
King  greeted  him  well.  Kiartan  was  the  biggest  and  good- 
liest of  men  and  fair-spoken  withal.  So  now  when  the  King 
and  Kiartan  had  taken  and  given  some  few  words  together, 
the  King  bade  Kiartan  take  christening.  Kiartan  saith  that 
he  will  not  gainsay  it,  if  he  shall  have  the  King's  friendship 
therefor ;  and  the  King  promised  him  his  hearty  friendship ; 
and  so  he  and  Kiartan  strike  this  bargain  between  them.  The 
next  day  was  Kiartan  christened,  and  Bolli  Thorleikson  his 
kinsman,  and  all  their  fellows ;  and  Kiartan  and  Bolli  were 
guests  of  the  King  whiles  they  wore  their  white  weeds;  and 
the  King  was  full  kind  to  them,  and  all  men  accounted  them 
noble  men  wheresoever  they  came. 

390.  "That  same  harvest  came  back  from  Iceland  to  King 


ICELAND,    GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  337 

Olaf  Thangbrand  the  mass-priest,  and  told  how  that  his  jour- 
ney had  been  none  of  the  smoothest ;  for  that  the  Icelanders 
had  made  scurvy  rimes  on  him,  yea  and  some  would  slay 
him.  And  he  said  that  there  was  no  hope  that  that  land 
would  ever  be  christened.  Hereat  was  King  Olaf  so  wood 
wroth  that  he  let  blow  together  all  the  Iceland  men  that  were 
in  the  town,  saying  withal  that  he  would  slay  them  every  one. 
But  Kiartan  and  Gizur  and  Hialti,  and  other  .such  as  had 
taken  christening,  went  to  him  and  said,  'Thou  wilt  not,  King, 
draw  back  from  that  word  of  thine,  whereby  thou  saidst  that 
no  man  might  do  so  much  to  anger  thee,  but  that  thou  wouldst 
forgive  it  him  if  he  cast  aside  heathendom  and  let  himself  be 
christened.  Now  will  all  Iceland  men  that  here  are  let  them- 
selves be  christened  ;  and  we  will  devise  somewhat  whereby 
the  Christian  faith  shall  prevail  in  Iceland.  Here  are  sons 
of  many  mighty  men  of  Iceland,  and  their  fathers  will  help 
all  they  may  in  the  matter.  But  in  sooth  Thangbrand  fared 
there  as  here  with  thee,  dealing  ever  with  masterful  ways  and 
man-slaying;  and  such  things  men  would  not  bear  of  him.' 
So  the  King  got  to  hearken  of  these  redes,  and  all  men  of 
Iceland  that  there  were,  were  christened." 

391.  In  the  Saga  of  Howard  the  Halt,  written 
long  before  Snorri's  Sagas  of  the  Kings,  we  get  a 
glimpse  of  the  same  kind  of  work  by  Olaf  and  of  the 
taking  to  Iceland  of  materials  for  church  building. 

"But  within  certain  winters  heard  Howard  these  tidings, 
that  Earl  Hakon  was  dead,  and  King  Olaf  Tryggvison  come 
to  the  land  and  gotten  to  be  sole  King  over  Norway,  and  that 
he  set  forth  new  beliefs  and  true.  So  when  Howard  heard 
hereof  he  broke  up  his  household,  and  fared  out  with  Biargey 
and  Thorhall,  his  kinsman.  They  came  to  King  Olaf  and  he 
gave  them  good  welcome.  There  was  Howard  christened 
with  all  his  house,  and  abode  there  that  winter  well  accounted 
of  by  King  Olaf.  That  same  winter  died  Biargey ;  but  the 
next  summer,  Howard  and  Thorhall  his  kinsman  fared  out 
to    Iceland.      Howard    had    out    with    him    church-wood    ex- 


338  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

ceeding  big;  he  set  up  house  in  the  nether  part  of  Thorhalls- 
dale,  and  abode  there  no  long  time  before  he  fell  sick ;  then 
he  called  to  him  Thorhall  his  kinsman  and  spake,  'Things  have 
come  to  this,  that  I  am  sick  with  the  sickness  that  will  bring 
me  my  death;  so  I  will  that  thou  take  the  goods  after  me, 
whereof  I  wish  thee  joy;  for  thou  hast  served  me  well  and 
given  me  good  fellowship ;  thou  shall  flit  thy  house  to  the 
upper  part  of  Thorhallsdale  and  there  shalt  thou  build  a 
church,  wherein  I  would  be  buried.'  " 

392.  In  the  year  1000,  the  Allthing  of  Iceland,  after 
serious  discussion,  voted  to  adopt  Christianity  as  the 
religion  of  the  island,  allowing,  however,  some  con- 
cessions for  a  time  to  the  superstitious  customs  of  the 
people.     But  in  1016  all  compromise  was  abolished. 

The  Arctic,  and  at  the  same  time  volcanic,  island 
had  one  natural  advantage  over  the  other  northern 
countries,  where  nothing  was  yet  known  as  to  baptism 
except  immersion.  The  Allthing  solemnly  .set  apart 
the  pools  of  certain  warm  springs  as  national  baptiste- 
ries. In  these,  at  last,  all  the  people  of  Iceland  were 
"buried  with  Christ  by  baptism"  and  "raised"  in  "the 
likeness  of  his  resurrection." 

393.  From  Iceland  Greenland  was  discovered  and 
colonized  (985).  Eric  the  Red,  banished  from  Ice- 
land, sailed  to  the  inhospitable  shores  which  had  been 
sighted  by  a  previous  navigator.  Eric  said  that  he 
thought  that  colonists  would  be  more  apt  to  come  if 
the  country  had  a  pleasant  name,  so  he  called  it  Green- 
land. That  facetious  name  has  stuck  to  the  great 
trackless,  ice-covered  peninsula  now  for  nearly  a  thou- 
sand years.  But  the  grim  humor  of  the  old  Norse 
outlaw  or  some  other  business  devices  proved  effective 


ICELAND,    GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  339 

and  many  settlers  left  Iceland  for  what  was,  possibly 
in  fact,  a  greener  land.  According  to  fourteenth  cen- 
tury accounts,  there  were  by  that  time  two  hundred 
and  eighty  Scandinavian  settlements  in  Greenland, 
with  two  towns,  fourteen  churches  and  a  cathedral. 
But  Eric  and  the  first  settlers  were  pagans. 

394.  The  following  is  the  story  of  their  conversion 
in  the  Sagas : 

"After  that  sixteen  winters  had  elapsed,  from  the  time 
when  Eric  the  Red  went  to  colonize  Greenland,  Leif,  Eric's 
son,  sailed  out  from  Greenland  to  Norway.  He  arrived  in 
Drontheim  in  the  autumn,  when  King  Olaf  Tryggvison  was 
come  down  from  the  north,  out  of  Halagoland.  Leif  put  in 
to  Nidaros  with  his  ship,  and  set  out  at  once  to  visit  the  King. 
King  Olaf  expounded  the  faith  to  him,  as  he  did  to  other 
heathen  men  who  came  to  visit  him.  It  proved  easy  for  the 
King  to  persuade  Leif,  and  he  was  accordingly  baptized, 
together  with  all  of  his  shipmates.  Leif  remained  throughout 
the  winter  with  the  King,  by  whom  he  was  well-  entertained. 

395.  "Upon  one  occasion  the  King  came  to  speech  with  Leif, 
and  asks  him,  'Is  it  thy  purpose  to  sail  to  Greenland  in  the 
summer?'  'It  is  my  purpose,'  said  Leif,  'if  it  be  your  will.' 
'I  believe  it  will  be  well,'  answers  the  King,  'and  thither  you 
shall  go  upon  my  errand,  to  proclaim  Christianity  there.' 
Leif  replied  that  the  King  should  decide,  but  intimated  to 
him  his  belief  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  .carry  his  mission 
to  a  successful  issue  in  Greenland.  The  King  replied  that  he 
knew  of  no  man  who  would  be  better  fitted  for  this  under- 
taking, 'and  in  thy  hands  the  cause  will  surely  prosper.'  'This 
can  only  be,'  said  Leif,  'if  I  enjoy  the  grace  of  your  protec- 
tion.' Leif  put  to  sea  when  his  ship  was  ready  for  the  voyage. 
For  a  long  time  he  was  tossed  about  upon  the  ocean,  and 
came  upon  lands  [New  England]  of  which  he  had  previously 
had  no  knowledge.  There  were  self-sown  wheat  fields  and 
vines  growing  there.  There  were  also  those  trees  thene  which 
are  called  'mausur'  and  of  all  these  they  took  specimens.    Some 


340  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

of  the  timbers  were  so  large  that  they  were  used  in  build- 
ing. Leif  found  men  upon  a  wreck,  and  took  them  home  with 
him,  and  procured  quarters  for  them  all  during  the  winter. 
In  this  wise  he  showed  his  nobleness  and  goodness,  since  he 
introduced  Christianity  into  the  country,  and  saved  the  men 
from  the  wreck ;  and  he  was  called  L*eif  the  Lucky  ever  after. 
396.  "Leif  landed  in  Ericsfirth  and  then  went  home  to  Brat- 
tahlid :  he  was  well  received  by  every  one.  He  soon  pro- 
claimed Christianity  throughout  the  land,  and  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  announced  King  Olaf  Tryggvison's  messages  to  the 
people,  telling  them  how  much  excellence  and  how  great  glory 
accompanied  the  faith.  Eric  was  slow  in  forming  the  deter- 
mination to  forsake  his  old  belief,  but  Thiodiiild  embraced  the 
faith  promptly,  and  caused  a  church  to  be  built  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  house.  This  building  was  called  Theodhild's 
Church,  and  there  she  and  those  persons  who  had  accepted 
Christianity,  and  they  were  many,  were  wont  to  offer  their 
prayers." 

397.  Other  sagas  give  more  details  about  Leif's  dis- 
covery of  the  New  England  coast  and  his  return  to 
spend  a  winter  there  more  than  600  years  before  the 
Pilgrims  landed.  Our  present  interest  is  in  the  fact 
that  the  continent  of  North  America  was  first  dis- 
covered by  a  missionary.  His  mission  to  Greenland 
(A.  D.  1000)  was  successful,  though  it  had  opposition 
to  meet  at  first.  When  all  the  people  were  calling  Leif 
the  Fortunate  because  he  had  fallen  in  with  and  res- 
cued a  shipwrecked  crew  in  those  unfrequented  waters, 
his  own  father  Eric  said  that  the  good  fortune  was 
offset  by  the  fact  that  Leif  had  brought  into  the  coun- 
try at  the  same  time  that  trickster  the  priest.  One 
of  Leif's  sisters,  Freydis,  named  from  the  Friday 
goddess  Freya,  was  a  woman  of  desperate  deeds. 
But  in  the  end  all  the  colony  accepted  Christianity, 


ICELAND,    GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  34) 

which  held  sway  there  for  four  hundred  years,  with  a 
line  of  bishops  of  whom  seventeen  are  known.  No 
account  has  reached  us,  only  vague  hints,  of  untoward 
events  by  which  the  colony  was  ultimately  destroyed. 
But  everyone  who  sees  the  statue  of  Leif  Ericson  on 
the  Boston  Back-Bay  Boulevard,  must  remember  in 
justice  to  the  facts  that  discovery  was  incidental  in 
the  career  of  Eric's  son.  The  main  business  of  that 
bold  figure  was  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  heathen. 

398.  After  the  last  record  of  the  old  Norse  colony 
and  church  in  Greenland  (1409),  three  hundred  years 
elapsed  without  leaving  any  account  of  a  sound  of  the 
gospel  over  the  cold  wastes  of  that  land  of  desola- 
tion. Then  a  young  Dane,  Hans  Egede,  in  his  studks 
at  college  became  acquainted  with  the  stories  of  the 
old  heroic  days  as  hundreds  of  others  before  him  had 
done.  But  he  had  the  imagination  and  the  wide-reach- 
ing altruism  to  be  fired  with  a  longing  to  renew  the 
work  of  Leif,  the  son  of  Eric,  and  to  minister  to  any 
remnant  of  the  old  faith  which  might  have  survived 
through  nine  generations.  In  his  dreams  he  saw  a 
people  with  some  of  the  old  Norse  blood  in  their  veins 
waiting  and  watching  for  a  messenger  of  God  to  break 
the  silence  of  the  centuries. 

Graduated  and  settled  in  the  little  fishing  parish 
of  Vaagen,  the  college  ideal  clung  to  him  and  gained 
an  even  deeper  hold  on  his  spirit.  He  devoured 
every  word  that  he  could  glean  from  men  who  had 
sailed  on  whaling  expeditions  in  the  Arctic  seas.  They 
told  him  of  the  terrible  condition  of  the  Greenlanders. 

399.  His  wife  could  not  share  his  desire  to  go  to 


342  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

that  desolate  land.  His  parishioners,  who  had  soon 
come  to  love  the  faithful,  devoted  young  pastor,  when 
they  learned  of  his  longing  at  first  protested,  then 
grew  angry,  and  finally  thought  him  deranged.  In 
1710  he  wrote  an  earnest  appeal  in  behalf  of  Green- 
land to  his  own  bishop  and  to  one  of  the  more  metro- 
politan bishops.  It  took  them  a  whole  year  to  answer 
and  then  it  was  with  no  more  encouragement  than 
was  received  eighty  years  later  by  William  Carey  from 
his  elders.  The  fisher-folk  of  Vaagen  came  almost  to 
persecute  Egede  and  his  family.  His  vagary,  as  they 
thought  it,  had  upset  the  selfish  complacency  of  the 
people  with  their  pastor.  At  this  juncture,  however, 
his  wife,  after  much  prayer  for  guidance,  came  to  see 
the  divine  call  as  clearly  as  he  did  himself.  From 
this  hour  on  she  was  his  unfailing  comrade  and  his 
strengthener  in  every  hour  of  darkness.  In  spite  of  the 
protests  of  her  own  mother  and  of  all  other  hindering 
frier.ds,  Gertrude  Ras  Egede  became  one  of  the  noblest 
missionaries  in  all  the  annals  of  our  two  millenniums. 
400.  In  171 5  Egede  published  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"A  Scriptural  and  Rational  Solution  and  Explanation 
with  Respect  to  the  Objections  and  Impediments 
Raised  Against  the  Design  of  Converting  the  Heathen- 
ish Greenlander."  He  resigned  his  pastorate  and  went 
to  Bergen  hoping  to  enlist  merchants  in  an  expedition 
for  trade  with  Greenland.  It  was  in  vain.  At  last  he 
went  to  Copenhagen.  There  some  friends  of  the 
Danish,  mission  in  India,  including  the  king  himself, 
sympathized  with  Egede's  purpose  and  gave  it  public 
indorsement. 


ICELAND     GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  J43 

There  were  trying  delays  even  after  that.  But 
finally  a  trading-colonizing-missionary  company  was 
organized.  After  thirteen  years  of  indefatigable  toil 
to  that  end,  Egede  set  out  in  the  "Hope"  for  the  same 
shore  that  Leif  the  son  of  Eric  had  sought  seven  cen- 
turies before. 

401.  On  reaching  Greenland  in  1721  he  found  the 
natives  to  be  no  descendants  of  the  old  Norsemen,  but 
low,  timid,  unapproachable  Eskimos.  In  spite  of  his 
vanished  dream  Egede  called  the  new  settlement  "Good 
Hope."  His  children  played  with  the  Eskimos  and  so 
gradually  friendly  relations  were  established.  The 
first  convert  was  baptized  three  years  and  a  half  after 
his  arrival. 

Egede  had  to  pick  up  the  language  as  best  he  could 
without  helps.  He  translated  some  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture as  soon  as  possible.  It  was  a  difficult  undertaking, 
because  the  Eskimos  lacked  a  vocabulary,  not  only  for 
spiritual  things,  but  also  for  the  ordinary  thoughts 
which  had  been  coined  into  words  under  such  different 
skies  as  those  of  Palestine.  How  could  he  render  the 
"Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world" 
to  people  who  had  never  seen  sheep?  Egede's  great- 
est work  was  in  laying  foundations  and  opening  the 
door  for  others,  especially  the  Moravians.  Twenty 
years  after  the  beginning  of  his  mission,  when  he  was 
in  the  homeland  pleading  for  it,  he  said :  "We  count 
but  between  twenty  and  thirty  aged  persons  and  a  hun- 
dred and  odd  young  ones  that  have  been  found  capa- 
ble to  receive  the  holy  sacrament  of  baptism."  But 
he  adds:     "If  amongst  ourselves  we  had  no  schools 


344  TW0  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

nor  other  pious  foundations  for  the  instruction  and 
Christian  education  of  youth  and  old  people,  pray 
what  great  feats  would  one  or  two  teachers  in  a  whole 
country  be  able  to  do  by  once  or  twice  a  year,  taking 
a  journey  throughout  the  land  and  preaching  a  passage 
sermon  ?" 

402.  Some  colonists  and  soldiers  of  doubtful  char- 
acter were  sent  to  Greenland,  who  added  much  to  the 
difficulties  of  Egede  as  superintendent  of  the  colony. 
He  was  reinforced  by  only  three  missionaries,  one  of 
whom  stayed  but  a  short  time.  Still  the  work  was 
making  some  headway,  when  a  terrible  scourge  of 
smallpox  was  brought  to  Greenland.  The  missionaries 
did  all  in  their  power  for  the  wretched  and  distracted 
natives.  But  three  thousand  of  them  perished,  only 
eight  souls  surviving  in  the  vicinity  of  the  station. 

After  fifteen  years  in  Greenland,  Egede's  heroic 
wife  laid  down  her  life.  The  people  for  whom  they 
had  especially  toiled  were  nearly  all  swept  away  and 
the  broken-hearted  missionary  prepared  to  return  to 
Europe.  He  gathered  the  handful  of  colonists  and 
the  remaining  natives  together  and  preached  to  them 
on  this  pathetic  text :  "I  said  I  have  labored  in  vain,  I 
have  spent  my  strength  for  naught  and  in  vain,  yet 
surely  my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord  and  my  work 
with  my  God." 

In  Copenhagen  Hans  Egede  did  useful  service  to 
the  cause  he  loved,  being  put  at  the  head  of  the  mis- 
sionary training-school  there.  His  son,  Paul  Egede, 
carried  on  the  Danish  mission  in  Greenland. 

403.  Three   years    before   the    departure   of   Hans 


ICELAND,    GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  345 

Egede  from  Greenland  he  welcomed  there  three  Mora- 
vian  missionaries.      Count  Zinzendorf,  attending  the 
coronation  of  Christian  VI  in  the  capital  of  Denmark, 
witnessed  the  baptism  of  two  Greenland  boys  whom 
Egede  had  sent  home.    The  little  church  of  Moravian 
refugees  on  Zinzendorf's  estate  in  Saxony  had  been 
in  existence  but  ten  years  and  was  without  numbers 
or  means.     But  its  heart  was  stirred  by  the  story  of 
Anthony,   the  West   Indian  negro,   and   at  the   same 
time  by  the  story  of  Greenland's  need.     When  it  was 
known  that  the  Danish  Government  intended  to  aban- 
don its  mission  in  Greenland,  two  or  three  uneducated 
day-laborers  in  Herrnh'ut,  without  resources,  felt  that 
they  ought  to  take  up  the  work  about  to  be  laid  down 
by  the  King  of  Denmark!     Matthew  Stach  and  his 
cousin,  Christian  Stach;    with    Christian  David,    who 
had  felled  the  first  tree  in  founding  Herrnh'ut,  made 
up  a  trio  for  Greenland.  The  simplicity  of  faith  which 
could  start  on  such  an  expedition  without  equipment  of 
any  kind,  educational,  financial  or  ecclesiastical,  was 
either  childish  or  nothing  less  than  sublime ;  perhaps  it 
was  both — was  sublimely  child-like.       The  Lutheran 
friends  of  missions  in  Copenhagen  were  astounded  at 
the  situation  when  the  Moravians  arrived  there.  But  the 
unmistakable,  unhesitating,  Christian  devotion  on  the 
one  side  called  it  out  on  the  other.    Count  Pless  asked 
the  Herrnhutters  how  they  could  live  after  reaching 
Greenland.    They  answered  that  they  "would  build  a 
house  and  cultivate  a  piece  of  land  that  they  might 
not  be  burdensome  to  any."     When  he  told  them  that 
there  was  no  timber  in  that  country  with   which  to 


346  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

build,  they  said :  "Then  we  will  dig  a  hole  in  the 
earth  and  lodge  there."  "No,"  he  said,  "you  shall  not 
be  driven  to  that  extremity ;  take  timber  with  you  and 
build  a  house."  And  he  gave  them  the  necessary 
money.  Through  such  friends,  the  king  gave  them  a 
cordial  letter  to  Egede  and  the  latter  welcomed  them 
with  the  utmost  Christian  fraternity.  He  put  them  at 
once  in  the  way  of  learning  the  language.  They 
selected  a  site  not  far  from  him  on  which  to  build 
their  mission  station,  which  they  called  New  Herrnh'ut. 
They  shared  with  him  in  the  self-forgetful  ministry 
to  the  natives  during  the  smallpox  scourge.  When 
famine  stared  them  in  the  face  and  sickness  disabled 
them  he  and  his  noble  wife  cared  for  them  tenderly 
as  if  they  had  been  of  his  own  church  or  his  own 
kindred.  On  his  final  departure  from  Greenland  he 
said  to  them:  "I  wish  you  the  Divine  blessing  and 
assistance  in  your  call  and  office  and  I  cherish  a  lively 
hope  that  God  will  still  bring  the  work  in  Greenland, 
which  I  must  now  leave  full  of  heaviness,  to  a  glori- 
ous issue." 

At  the  end  of  a  year  they  were  reinforced  by  the 
arrival  from  Herrnh'ut  of  Frederick  Boemish  and  John 
Beck*  But  the  following  summer  no  supplies  were 
sent  them  and  they  were  reduced  to  dire  straits  for 
subsistence.  They  began  the  long  winter  with  nothing 
but  a  barrel-and-a-half  of  oatmeal.  The  natives  re- 
fused to  sell  them  seals,  which  the  missionaries  them- 
selves had  no  way  of  catching. 

They  got  along  fairly  well  on  shell-fish  and  train-oil 
while  they  could  get  them,  with  a  little  sprinkling  of 


ICELAND,     GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  347 

oatmeal.  But  when  they  were  reduced  to  seaweed  and 
old  tallow  candles  for  food  they  became  greatly  de- 
bilitated. Only  a  part  of  the  supplies  needed  came 
for  the  fourth  year. 

404.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  1736  that  the  first 
women  were  added  to  the  missionary  staff,  Madam 
Stach,  Matthew's  mother,  and  his  two  sisters,  Rosina 
and  Anna.  This  not  only  improved  the  home  condi- 
tions but  also  the  prospect  of  efficiency.  The  young 
women  proved  to  have  more  facility  in  learning  the 
language  of  the  country  than  their  brother  or  cousin 
possessed.  When  the  missionaries  told  the  natives 
that  they  had  come  to  Greenland  to  teach  them  the 
truth,  they  replied :  "Fine  fellows,  indeed,  to  be  our 
teachers!  We  know  very  well  that  you  yourselves 
are  ignorant  and  must  learn  your  lesson  of  others." 

The  missionaries  made  every  effort  to  win  the  confi- 
dence and  get  near  to  the  hearts  of  the  Greenlanders. 
Matthew  Stach  even  lived  with  them  in  one  of  their 
filthy  huts  for  a  month  at  a  time.  But  all  to  no  avail. 
The  savages  tried  all  sorts  of  serious  annoyances  to 
drive  the  Moravians  out  of  the  country.  They  even 
stoned  them  and  on  one  occasion  conspired  to  murder 
them.  It  was  not  until  five  years  had  passed  that  the 
first  decided  fruit  of  the  mission  appeared.  Here  is 
the  original  record  of  that  thrilling  event: 

405.  "June  the  2nd"  (write  the  missionaries)  "many  South- 
landers  visited  us.  Brother  Beck  at  the  time  was  copying 
a  translation  of  a  portion  of  the  Gospels.  The  heathen  being 
very  curious  to  know  the  contents  of  the  book,  he  read  a  few 
sentences,  and  after  some  conversation  with  them  asked  wheth- 


348  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

er  they  had  an  immortal  soul,  and  whither  that  soul  would  go 
after  death?  Some  said,  'Up  yonder.'  And  others,  'Down  to 
the  abyss.'  Having  rectified  their  notions  on  this  point,  he 
inquired  who  had  made  heaven  and  earth,  man  and  all  other 
things.  They  reply  that  they  did  not  know  and  neither  had 
they  heard,  but  it  must  certainly  be  some  great  and  mighty 
Being.  He  then  gave  them  an  account  of  the  creation  of  the 
world,  the  fall  of  man  and  his  recovery  by  Christ. 

"In  speaking  on  the  redemption  of  man,  the  Spirit  of  God 
enabled  him  to  enlarge  with  more  than  usual  energy  on  the 
sufferings  and  death  of  our  Saviour,  and  in  the  most  pathetic 
manner  to  exhort  his  hearers  seriously  to  consider  the  vast 
expense  at  which  Jesus  had  ransomed  their  souls,  and  no 
longer  reject  the  mercy  offered  them  in  the  Gospel.  He  then 
read  to  them  out  of  the  New  Testament,  the  history  of  our 
Saviour's  agony  in  the  Garden.  Upon  this  the  Lord  opened 
the  heart  of  one  of  the  company,  whose  name  was  Kayarnak, 
who  stepping  up  to  the  table,  in  an  earnest  manner,  exclaimed, 
'How  was  that?  Tell  me  that  once  more,  for  I  too  desire 
to  be  saved.'  These  words,  the  like  of  which  had  never  before 
been  uttered  by  a  Greenlander,  so  penetrated  the  soul  of 
Brother  Beck,  that  with  great  emotion  and  enlargement  of 
heart  he  gave  them  a  general  account  of  the  life  and  death 
of  our  Saviour,  and  of  the  scheme  of  salvation  through  him." 
406.  Kayarnak  proved  to  be  a  sincere  inquirer. 
After  careful  instruction  he  and  others  whom  he  had 
helped  to  bring  were  baptized.  From  this  time  on,  in 
spite  of  many  discouragements,  the  Christian  colony 
at  New  Herrnh'ut  grew.  By  1748  it  numbered  one 
hundred  and  thirty.  Thirty-five  were  baptized  in  that 
one  year.  The  year  before  the  first  church  building  had 
been  erected  with  frame  and  boards  sent  from  Europe. 
At  the  end  of  twenty-five  years,  a  new  station  was 
established  one  hundred  miles  south  of  New  Herrnhut 
and  called  Lichtenfels.     Within  two  years  converts 


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ICELAND,    GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  349 

were  baptized  there  and  many  adherents  soon  gathered 
about  this  place.  Sixteen  years  later,  a  third  station 
was  established  four  hundred  miles  farther  south  still, 
near  the  southern  cape  of  Greenland.  It  was  not  long 
until  there  were  over  two  hundred  baptized  converts 
in  the  new  station,  Lichtenau. 

407.  The  first  Moravian  missionary  to  Greenland 
who  had  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  a  liberal  education 
was  Michael  Koenigseer,  who  came  in  1773  to  be 
superintendent  of  the  whole  field.  Though  fifty-one 
years  of  age,  he  was  able  to  acquire  the  native  language 
as  none  of  his  predecessors  had  been  able  to  do  in 
all  the  forty  years  of  the  mission.  He  did  splendid 
service  until  his  death  in  1786.  The  year  that  William 
Carey  arrived  in  India,  John  Soerensen,  in  his  eighti- 
eth year,  returned  to  Europe,  having  spent  forty-nine 
years  as  a  missionary  in  Greenland.  By  the  year  1801, 
the  last  Greenlander  within  the  immediate  field  of  the 
Moravians  had  received  baptism.  Is  there  another  rec- 
ord of  missionary  success  as  complete  as  this  any- 
where on  earth  ?  It  is  true  that  the  total  popula- 
tion was  small,  fewer  than  two  thousand  souls.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  was  one  of  the  most  groveling,  unfeel- 
ingly selfish,  stolid  and  stubborn  people  ever  ap- 
proached by  Christianity.  It  was  transformed  by  the 
gospel.  After  conversion,  sympathy,  kindness,  gen- 
erosity, even  to  strangers,  developed.  When  an  ac- 
count of  the  destruction  of  the  Moravian  Indian  set- 
tlement in  Ohio  at  the  hands  of  savage  white  men  and 
the  destitution  of  the  few  survivors  was  read  to  the 
Greenlanders'  Church,  one  Eskimo  said,  "I  have  a  fine 


350  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

reindeer  skin  which  I  will  give."  Another  said,  "I 
have  a  new  pair  of  reindeer  boots  which  I  will  send." 
A  third  said,  "I  will  send  them  a  seal  that  they  may 
have  something  to  eat  and  burn." 

408.  One  of  the  world-wide  lessons  taught  by  the 
Moravian  mission  in  Greenland  the  missionaries  them- 
selves did  not  learn  for  years.  Then  they  had  the 
grace  to  see  their  own  mistake,  frankly  to  acknowledge 
it  and  completely  to  reverse  their  method.  They  began 
by  proclaiming  the  great  God  and  his  rightful  require- 
ments of  men.  It  seemed  to  them  that  there  was  no 
use  of  preaching  much  else  till  this  was  accepted. 
But  nobody  accepted  this  or  cared  even  to  hear  about 
it.  It  was  the  story  of  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  that 
stirred  the  first  soul.  It  was  found  that  others  were 
moved  in  like  manner.  In  1840  the  missionaries  be- 
came fully  convinced  that  they  ought  to  put  to  the 
front  the  love  and  sympathy  of  God  as  revealed  in 
the  suffering  Saviour.  From  that  time  on  the  work 
prospered  and  became  triumphant.  Even  the  hard- 
hearted Eskimo  is  not  to  be  hammered  to  pieces ;  he 
is  to  be  melted  like  his  own  icebergs,  by  the  omnipo- 
tent sunshine. 

409.  Labrador,  though  farther  south  than  Green- 
land, has  a  more  Arctic  climate  and  is  inhabited  by 
Eskimos  of  a  more  degraded  type.  Christian  Erhard 
had  sailed  many  seas  and  had  been  converted  at  a 
Moravian  mission  station  in  the  West  Indies.  As  a 
mate  on  a  Dutch  whaler  he  had  visited  New  Herrnhut 
in  Greenland  and  had  learned  a  little  of  the  Eskimo 
speech.     Some  English  merchants  put  him  in  charge 


ICELAND,    GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  35 1 

of  a  trading  expedition  for  the  coast  of  Labrador  in 
1752.  Four  Moravians  from  the  Brethren's  settlement 
at  Ziest,  in  Holland,  went  with  him  to  found  a  mis- 
sion. They  landed  at  Nisbet's  Haven  and  erected  a 
house  which  they  had  brought  with  them,  calling  the 
station  Hopedale.  The  trading  vessel  sailed  up  the 
coast.  Erhard,  going  ashore  with  five  of  the  crew 
to  visit  some  of  the  natives,  never  returned.  There 
were  indications  found  the  next  year  which  showed 
that  they  had  been  murdered.  The  captain  was  left 
so  short-handed  that  he  returned  to  Hopedale  and 
took  the  Moravians  on  board  to  help  him  work  the 
ship  back  to  Europe. 

410.  Another  Moravian,  Jens  Haven,  strongly 
drawn  toward  the  perilous  coast  of  Labrador,  made  a 
special  study  of  it.  The  more  he  learned  of  its  dan- 
gers the  more  he  wanted  to  go.  Zinzendorf  advised 
him  to  go  first  to  Greenland.  Having  spent  some  time 
in  the  work  at  Lichtenfels,  he  was  called  to  England 
to  inaugurate  the  work  for  Labrador.  Through  the 
co-operation  of  Sir  Hugh  Palliser,  Governor  of  New- 
foundland, Haven  visited  Labrador  in  1764  and  again 
the  next  year,  having  several  of  the  Brethren  with 
him  the  second  time.  But  various  difficulties  made 
it  impossible  to  establish  a  permanent  mission  there 
until  several  years  later. 

411.  During  this  interval,  some  Labrador  natives 
had  been  taken  to  England  by  the  government  and 
treated  very  kindly  by  the  royal  family  and  others. 
They  were  most  delighted  to  meet  people  who  could 
speak  their  language,  some  of  the  Greenland  mission- 
aries. 


352  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

At  length  George  III  granted  the  Moravians  "one 
hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  coast  of  Labrador,  wher- 
ever they  pleased  to  locate  themselves,  for  the  purpose 
of  evangelizing  the  heathen  inhabitants."  Thus  en- 
couraged, Moravians  in  London  and  elsewhere  organ- 
ized a  company  and  purchased  a  ship  of  a  hundred 
and  twenty  tons  burden  to  make  annual  voyages  to 
Labrador  in  the  interest  of  missions. 

412.  At  last  the  hopes  of  Jens  Haven  were  to  be 
realized.  In  1770  the  Amity  made  her  first  voyage. 
Haven  had  with  him  Lawrence  Drachart,  who  had 
been  a  Danish  missionary  in  Greenland  and  was  pro- 
ficient in  the  Eskimo  language ;  also  Steven  Jensen. 
A  clan  which  had  been  influenced  by  Mikhak,  one  of 
the  Eskimo  women,  who  had  been  in  England,  wel- 
comed the  missionaries.  Having  found  a  suitable 
opening,  they  returned  to  England  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  permanent  establishment  of  the  mis- 
sion. 

A  number  of  additional  missionaries  volunteered  for 
the  terrible  field  of  Labrador.  Haven  was  married 
that  winter.  Two  others  were  married  men.  There 
was  a  physician  in  the  company,  and  there  were  a 
number  of  artisans,  sixteen  people  in  all. 

This  devoted  band  landed  on  the  10th  of  August, 
1 77 1,  at  the  place  selected  the  previous  year.  They 
called  it  Nain.  It  was  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  north  of  Hopedale,  where  the  unsuccessful  start 
had  been  made  nineteen  years  before. 

413.  After  a  few  years,  the  Privy  Council  of  England 
granted  them  a  tract  of  one  hundred  thousand  acres 


ICELAND,    GREENLAND    AND    LABRADOR.  353 

for  missionary  purposes.  In  1776  they  established  a 
station  at  Okak,  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  of 
Nain,  and  in  1782  another  as  far  south,  near  Old 
Hopedale,  calling  it  by  the  same  name.  Jens  Haven 
was  the  leader  in  all  these  enterprises.  We  have  not 
space  for  an  account  of  the  thrilling  adventures  of 
the  Brethren  in  their  journeys  over  the  ice.  The  fol- 
lowing from  Haven's  journal  is  a  hint  as  to  the  trying 
nature  of  their  work  with  the  natives : 

414.  "We  were  forced  to  creep  on  all  fours  through  a  low 
passage,  several  fathoms  long,  to  get  into  the  house ;  and  were 
glad  if  we  escaped  being  bitten  by  the  hungry  dogs,  which 
take  refuge  there  in  cold  weather,  and  which,  as  they  lie  in  the 
dark,  are  often  trodden  upon  by  the  visitor,  who,  if  he  escapes 
from  this  misfortune,  is  compelled  to  undergo  the  more  dis- 
gusting salutation  of  being  licked  in  the  face  by  these  animals, 
and  of  crawlings  through  the  filth  in  which  they  mingle.  Yet 
this  house,  notwithstanding  our  senses  of  seeing  and  smelling 
were  wofully  offended  in  such  frightful  weather,  was  of  equal 
welcome  to  us  as  the  greatest  palace." 

415.  The  first  convert  baptized  was  Kingmingnese, 
at  Okak,  the  first  year  of  the  mission  there. 
This  was  five  years  after  the  beginning  of  the  work  in 
Labrador,  the  same  length  of  time  which  had  elapsed 
before  the  first  convert  in  Greenland.  Five  years  later 
there  were  thirty-eight  baptized  natives  at  Okak  and 
ten  catechumens.  From  the  start,  however,  the  mis- 
sion exerted  a  great  influence  in  abating  the  barbar- 
ism of  the  Eskimos.  Large  numbers  were  gradually 
transformed  into  at  least  semi-civilized  people. 

Mikhak,  though  friendly  and  of  great  service  to 
the  mission,  did  not  enter  the  Christian  life.  Her 
husband,  Tuglavina,  was  by  far  the  most  able  and 


354  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

influential  Eskimo  in  Labrador.  From  his  superior 
intellectual  gifts,  he  had  acquired  a  vast  ascendency 
over  the  natives,  which  he  often  used  wickedly  and 
even  murderously.  But  he  would  always  bear  the 
sharpest  rebukes  from  the  fearless  Haven.  Sometimes 
he  would  tremble  and  weep  for  shame.  At  last,  after 
the  most  careful  instruction  and  cautious  waiting,  the 
Moravians  received  Tuglavina  into  church  fellowship, 
believing  him  to  be  a  great  example  of  saving  grace. 
This  culminating  event  in  the  early  Labrador  mission 
took  place  on  Christmas  day,  1793,  the  year  in  which 
Carey  arrived  in  India. 

416.  The  mission  in  Labrador  is  peculiar  in  this  :  It 
has  always  been  supported  by  a  special  organization 
in  London,  "The  Brethren's  Society  for  the  Further- 
ance of  the  Gospel." 

It  has  sent  its  ships — ten  different  vessels  in  all — to 
the  dangerous  coast  of  Labrador  every  year  since  1771, 
without  ever  having  a  serious  accident.  At  the  time 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  it  was  captured  by  a  French 
privateer,  but  was  released  without  loss.  Between 
the  ship  which  took  the  first  copy  of  the  Septuagint 
to  Rome  and  the  one  in  which  Carey  sailed  to  India 
uncounted  keels  cut  the  sea  with  missionary  messages 
and  messengers.  But  this  charmed  Labrador  ship 
seems  to  have  been  the  only  one  in  our  two  millenni- 
ums devoted  exclusively  to  missions.  It,  too,  engages 
in  trade,  but  only  for  the  sake  of  supporting  and  fur- 
thering the  gospel. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


SPANISH  AMERICA. 


417.  Its  extent.  418.  Columbus  a  missionary.  419. 
His  mission.  420.  Testamentary  proof  of  interest  in 
missions.  421.  Spanish  conquests  and  missions.  422. 
Las  Casas.  423.  His  work.  424.  His  wide  apostleship. 
425.  Brazil.  426.  Joseph  Anchieta.  427.  Henry  Reich- 
ler.  428.  Antonio  Vieira.  429.  Paraguay.  430. 

Work  in  Peru.  431.  Northern  South  America.  432. 
Central    America.  433.  Mexico.         434.  Mexican   mis- 

sionary methods  in  1600.  435.  Lower  California.  436. 
Florida.  437.  New  Mexico.  438.  Texas.  439.  Cal- 
ifornia.       440,  An  estimate. 


417.  If  one  were  to  travel  overland  from  St.  Augus- 
tine to  San  Francisco  and  sail  from  there  around  Cape 
Horn  to  St.  Augustine,  he  would  have  compassed  a 
large  fraction  of  the  habitable  earth.  This  was  the 
field  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  missions  in  the  New 
World.  This  continent  and  a  half  they  Christianized. 
It  was  an  extremely  faulty  Christianity  which  they 
brought,  but  it  was  all-including  and  permanent. 

If  we  were  to  study  Romish  missions  in  the  New 
World  in  the  sectarian  spirit  in  which  some  Roman 
writers,  notably  Marshall,  have  written  of  all  Protest- 
ant missions,  we  might  present  an  appalling  array  of 

355 


356  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

testimony  from  the  pens  of  Romanists  alone  as  to  the 
defects  of  the  work  and  the  sins  and  crimes  by  which 
it  has  been  accompanied.  But  we  should  be  giving  no 
more  than  half  of  the  truth,  and  that  the  half  which 
can  bring  good  to  no  one.  Such  a  presentation  would 
be  most  unjust. 

418.  Was  Christopher  Columbus  a  missionary  ?  The 
motives  of  human  action  are  seldom,  if  ever,  perfectly 
simple.  They  are  manifold  and  mixed.  Love  to  God, 
love  to  neighbor,  and  the  basis  of  the  latter,  love  to 
self,  are  motives  which  ought  to  hold  sway  conjointly. 
It  is  difficult  to  be  clear  as  to  the  proper  balance  in 
one's  own  life  and  it  is  impossible  to  judge  surely  the 
life  of  another ;  only  Omniscience  can  do  that. 

It  is  certain  that  Christopher  Columbus  believed 
that  the  missionary  motive  was  one  of  the  great  actu- 
ating motives  of  his  career.  From  our  point  of  view, 
Columbus  became  a  sordid  and  wicked  man.  But 
from  his  point  of  view,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  the  following  statements,  among  many  more  of 
the  same  import  from  his  own  pen,  were  made  in  sin- 
cerity : 

419.  "In  consequence  of  information  which  I  have  given  your 
Highnesses  respecting  the  countries  of  India  and  of  a  Prince 
called  Great  Can,  which  in  our  language  signifies  King  of 
Kings,  how  at  many  times,  he  and  his  predecessor  had  sent 
to  Rome  soliciting  instructors  who  might  teach  him  our  holy 
faith,  and  the  holy  Father  had  never  granted  his  request, 
whereby  great  numbers  of  people  were  lost,  believing  in  idol- 
atry and  doctrines  of  perdition ;  Your  Highnesses,  as  Catholic 
Christians,  and  Princes  who  love  and  promote  the  holy  Chris- 
tian faith,  and  are  enemies  of  the  doctrine  of  Mahomet,  and 
pf  all  idolatry  and  heresy,  determined  to  send  me,  Christopher 


SPANISH   AMERICA.  357 

Columbus,  to  the  above  mentioned  countries  of  India,  to  see 
the  said  Princes,  people  and  territories,  and  to  learn  their 
disposition  and  the  proper  method  of  converting  them  to  our 
holy  faith. 

"In  all  these  islands  there  is  no  difference  of  physiognomy, 
of  manners,  or  of  language,  but  they  all  clearly  understand 
each  other — a  circumstance  very  propitious  for  the  realization 
of  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  principal  wish  of  our  most  serene 
King,  namely,  the  conversion  of  these  people  to  the  holy  faith 
of  Christ,  to  which,  indeed,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  they  are 
very  favorable  and  well  disposed." 

In  the  journal  of  his  first  voyage  Columbus  expressed 
his  conviction  that  Cuba  was  ,a  part  of  the  country 
of  the  Great  Khan  and  that  he  was  near  Zayton,  China, 
where  we  have  seen  that  the  medieval  missionaries  had 
such  a  flourishing  station.  He  was  enthusiastic  about 
Cuba  and  said,  "I  shall  labour  to  make  all  these,  people 
Christians.  They  will  become  so  readily,  because  they 
have  no  religion  nor  idolatry." 

420.  In  his  will  be  put  the  following  item : 
"I  also  order  Diego,  my  son,  or  whosoever  may  inherit 
after  him,  to  spare  no  pains  in  having  and  maintaining 
in  the  island  of  Espanola  four  good  professors  of  theology, 
to  the  end  and  aim  of  their  studying  and  laboring  to  convert 
to  our  holy  faith  the  inhabitants  of  the  Indies ;  and  in  pro- 
portion as,  by  God's  will,  the  revenue  of  the  estate  shall  in- 
crease, in  the  same  degree  shall  the  number  of  teachers  and 
devout  persons  increase,  who  are  to  strive  to  make  Christians 
of  the  natives ;  in  attaining  which  no  expense  should  be 
thought  of. 

"I  gave  to  the  subject  six  or  seven  years  of  great  anxiety, 
explaining,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  how  great  service  might 
be  done  to  our  Lord  by  this  undertaking,  in  promulgating 
His  sacred  name  and  our  holy  faith  among  so  many  na- 
tions." 


358  TWO   THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Columbus  always  delighted  to  take  his  first  name 
literally,  deeming  himself  the  bearer  of  Christ  to  the 
world.    He  signed  himself,  "Christo  ferens." 

421.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  missionary 
aim  held  a  high  place  in  the  minds  of  the  Spanish 
discoverers  and  conquerors  who  followed  Columbus. 
Though  terribly  brutal  and  otherwise  immoral  they 
were  devoutly  religious  according  to  their  conception 
of  religion  and  were  bent  on  propagating  the  faith. 
This,  which  had  been  a  chief  motive  with  which  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella  were  induced  to  begin  the  enter- 
prise, continued  to  be  prominent  in  the  whole  under- 
taking. Columbus  deeded  a  portion  of  his  expected 
estate  to  the  work  of  recapturing  Jerusalem  for  Chris- 
tianity. We  are  not  to  forget  that  crusades  were 
counted  most  pious  undertakings.  The  conquest  of 
Mexico,  for  instance,  in  its  methods  so  shocking  to  all 
just  religious  perceptions  and  so  utterly  inexcusable 
in  the  light  of  real  Christianity,  was  not  without  threads 
of  sincere  missionary  intention  woven  in  with  the 
heartless  love  of  glory  and  the  insatiable  greed  of  gold. 
Prescott  does  not  go  too  far  when  he  says : 

"There  was  nothing  which  the  Spanish  government  had 
more  earnestly  at  heart  than  the  conversion  of  the  Indians.  It 
forms  the  constant  burden  of  their  instructions,  and  gave  to 
the  military  expeditions  in  this  western  hemisphere  some- 
what of  the  air  of  a  crusade.  The  cavalier  who  embarked  in 
them  entered  fully  into  these  chivalrous  and  devotional  feel- 
ings. No  doubt  was  entertained  of  the  efficacy  of  conversion, 
however  sudden  might  be  the  change  or  however  violent  the 
means.  The  sword  was  a  good  argument,  when  the  tongue 
failed ;  and  the  spread  of  Mahometanism  had  shown  that  the 
seeds  sown  by  the  hand  of  violence,  far  from  perishing  in  the 


COLUMBUS  AS  ST.  CHRISTO-FER. 

I  rom  Map  oi  Juan  ilc  la  Ca.->a,  AD,  loUU.J 


SPANISH   AMERICA.  359 

ground,  would  spring  up  and  bear  fruit  to  after-time.  If  this 
were  so  in  a  bad  cause,  how  much  more  would  it  be  true  in 
a  good  one  ?" 

422.  If  there  had  been  nothing  better  than  these 

occidental  crusades,  the  missionary  element  in  Span- 
ish-American life  would  be  lost  out  of  sight  in  the 
overwhelming  mass  of  selfishness  and  brutality.  In 
the  West  Indies  the  natives  were  enslaved, and  rapidly 
exterminated.  By  a  system  of  assignments. Spaniards 
set  apart  to  themselves  not  only  certain  portions  of 
land  but  also  a  certain  number  of  natives  to  each  one. 
The  law  provided  that  the  Christian  faith  should  be 
taught  to  these  serfs.  That  part  of  the  plan  was  gen- 
erally ignored,  and  the  natives  were  simply  driven  like 
brute  beasts  in  the  work  of  the  fields  and  mines.  To 
meet  this  iniquity  God  raised  up  one  of  the  most  pic- 
turesque and  brilliant  characters  in  all  missionary  his- 
tory, Bartolomeo  de  las  Casas,  His  father  had  accom- 
panied Columbus  in  his  first  voyage.  In  1502  young 
Las  Casas,  having  completed  his  studies  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Salamanca,  came  to  America.  Eight  years  later 
he  was  admitted  to  full  priest's  orders,  being  the  first 
priest  ordained  in  America.  If  all  his  successors  had 
been  equal  to  him  in  Christian  character  and  in  mis- 
sionary spirit  the  New  World  would  have  become  the 
"new  earth"  under  the  "new  heavens"  of  which  Colum- 
bus so  fondly  dreamed  and  wrote. 

423.  Las  Casas  had  an  assignment  of  land  and  abori- 
gines in  Cuba.  He  treated  his  serfs  humanely,  but  con- 
science protested.  As  he  was  about  to  preach  on  a 
text  in  the  apocryphal  book  of  Ecclesiasticus,  ending 
with  "He  that  taketh  away  his  neighbor's  living  slay- 


360  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

eth  him;  and  he  that  defraudeth  the  laborer  of  his 
hire  is  a  bloodshedder,"  his  conscience  was  arrested 
and  he  was  completely  converted.     The  first  thing  to 
be  done  was  to  give  up  his  Indians.     It  was  not  easy 
to  decide  to  do  this — questions  of  duty  are  often  com- 
plicated— chiefly  because  he  feared  that  they  would  fall 
into  worse  hands  and  be  worked  to  death,  as  after- 
ward proved  to  be  the  case.     But  he  obviously  could 
not  preach  against  the  system  of  assignments  and  con- 
tinue to  participate  in  it  himself.     There  is  not  space 
here  for  the  long  story  of  his  life  and  heroic  struggle 
to  secure  fair  treatment  for  the  natives.  Again  and  again 
he  went  to  Spain  and  pleaded  with  successive  gov- 
ernments in  their  behalf.  Ferdinand,  Cardinal  Ximenes 
the  Regent,  Charles  V  and  Philip  II  were  all  effect- 
ually reached  by  him,  in  spite  of  bitter  opposition  on 
the  part  of  people  interested  in  the  existing  state  of 
things.     He  secured  royal  decrees  and  administrative 
measures  for  the  good  of  the  natives.     He  was  ap- 
pointed  protector  of  the   Indians   and   gave  himself 
with  great  devotion  to  the  work  of  Christianizing,  and 
civilizing  them  in  Cuba,  San  Domingo,    Porto  Rico, 
Venezuela,  Nicaragua,  Guatemala  and  Mexico.     He 
was  offered  a  wealthy  bishopric  in  Peru,  but  declined 
it,  afterward  accepting  the  poor  one  of  Chiapa,  Mex- 
ico, when  he  was  past  seventy  years  old,  in  the  hope 
of  doing  real  service  to  the  aborigines  there.     Las 
Casas  was  not  alone  in  his  aims.    Many  missionaries, 
especially  of  the  Dominican  order,  which  he  joined  in 
middle  life,  warmly  co-operated  with  him.     But  the 
lust  of  gain  in  the  colonists  generally  thwarted  their 


SPANISH   AMERICA.  361 

apostolic  and  Christ-like  toils  to  a  great  degree.  The 
splendid  vitality  of  Las  Casas  kept  him  in  vigorous 
life  to  the  age  of  ninety-two.  Even  so,  his  death  is  re- 
garded as  "premature"  by  Arthur  Helps,  who  may 
be  considered  his  best  biographer  in  English. 

424.  Las  Casas  richly  deserves  the  title,  "The  Apos- 
tle of  the  West  Indies."  He  was  also  the  chief  his- 
torian of  the  time  in  the  New  World.  His  writings 
were  the  original  source  of  a  large  part  of  all  current 
accounts.  Some  of  them  exist  even  yet  only  in  manu- 
script form.  Copies  may  be  seen  in  the  Library  of 
Congress  in  Washington.  Spaniards  have  naturally 
been  reluctant  to  allow  them  to  be  printed  because 
they  paint  the  discoverers  and  conquerors  in  so  lurid 
a  light.  It  is  probable  that  with  his  own  hot  tempera- 
ment and  in  his  burning  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  the 
aborigines,  Las  Casas  sometimes  overcolored  the  pic- 
tures of  their  oppressors.  He  had  no  census  statistics, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  he  greatly  overestimated  the 
numbers  of  the  natives  destroyed.  Some  of  his  ac- 
counts were  published  in  various  European  languages, 
illustrated  in  some  editions  with  numerous  frightful 
wood-cuts  delineating  the  barbarities  perpetrated  on 
the  natives.  The  illustrations,  with  more  or  less  of 
the  accounts,  were  freely  circulated  in  Holland  to  in- 
nerve  the  people  in  their  own  struggle  against  the 
Spanish  yoke. 

Columbus  was  a  kind  of  would-be  missionary.  Las 
Casas  was  a  genuine  missionary  of  the  most  intense 
type.  Like  that  of  all  great  souls,  his  work  for  hu- 
manity was  wider  than  he  knew.    He  has  been  an  in- 


362  TWO    THOUAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

spiration  to  the  lovers  of  liberty  and  philanthropy 
in  succeeding  centuries  and  in  many  lands.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  copy  of  the  title-page  of  one  of  the  early 
English  translations  of  some  of  his  pleas  in  behalf  of 
the  heathen  natives  of  America : 

"An  Account  of  the  First  Voyages  and  Discoveries  Made  by 
the  Spaniards  in  America.  Containing  The  most  Exact  Rela- 
tion hitherto  published  of  their  unparallell'd  Cruelties  on  the 
Indians,  in  the  destruction  of  above  Forty  Millions  of  People. 
With  the  Propositions  offer'd  to  the  King  of  Spain,  to  prevent 
the  further  Rpin  of  the  West-Indies. 

By  Don  Bartholomew  de  las  Casas,  Bishop  of  Chiapa,  who 
was  an  Eye-witness  of  their  Cruelties.  Illustrated  with  Cuts. 
London.     M.DC.  XC.  IX." 

425.  Mission  work  in  Brazil  began  near  San  Salva- 
dor in  1549,  fifty  years  after  the  first  occupation  of  the 
country  by  the  Portuguese.  Though  politically  a  sepa- 
rate country,  Portugal  is  an  integral  part  of  the  Iberian 
peninsula  and  her  American  colony  must  be  counted 
as  a  portion  of  Spanish  America,  in  some  essential  re- 
spects. The  head  of  the  first  company  of  six  mis- 
sionaries was  Manuel  de  Nobrega.  They  soon  per- 
suaded many  of  the  natives  to  live  in  peace,  temper- 
ance and  monogamy,  but  found  it  very  difficult  to  in- 
duce them  to  give  up  cannibalism.  On  one  occasion 
they  snatched  a  victim  from  the  hands  of  the  jubilant 
old  women  who  were  just  taking  him  to  the  fire  to  be 
roasted.  This  daring  deed  threw  the  whole  region  into 
arms.  On  another  occasion  one  of  the  missionaries 
went  among  them  flogging  himself  until  he  was  cov- 
ered with  blood  and  telling  them  that  he  did  it  in 
order  to  take  upon  himself  the  punishment  due  to 


SPANISH   AMERICA.  363 

them  for  their  terrible  sin  of  eating  human  flesh. 
This  measure  proved  effective  in  redeeming  one  clan. 
They  confessed  their  sin  and  enacted  severe  penalties 
on  themselves  in  case  of  its  repetition.  The  missionaries 
taught  some  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic  and  still 
more  music.  They  found  the  natives  very  susceptible 
to  the  influence  of  song.  Accordingly  not  only  prayers 
but  also  catechism  and  creed  were  adapted  to  music. 
It  seemed  to  Nobrega  that  the  story  of  Orpheus  was 
the  type  of  his  mission. 

426.  Joseph  Anchieta  was  another  Jesuit  mission- 
ary of  heroic  and  saintly  character.  There  were  no 
text-books  when  he  began  to  teach  the  natives  Latin, 
so  he  wrote  out  a  lesson  for  each  pupil  on  a  separate 
leaf,  sometimes  working  at  this  all  night.  He  not  only 
composed  for  the  natives  in  their  own  tongue  hymns 
and  catechisms  but  also  prepared  a  grammar  and  dic- 
tionary for  the  use  of  missionaries  in  acquiring 
the  language.  He  was  shoemaker  for  his  brethren, 
although  he  went  barefooted  himself.  "I  serve  as 
physician  and  barber,  physicking  and  bleeding  the  In- 
dians"— his  instrument  a  pocket-knife — "and  some  of 
them  have  recovered  under  my  hands."  His  biogra- 
pher describes  his  work  as  follows : 

"Barefooted,  with  no  other  garment  than  his  cassock,  his 
crucifix  and  rosary  round  his  neck,  his  pilgrim's  staff  and 
his  breviary  in  his  hand,  and  his  shoulders  laden  with  the 
furniture  requisite  for  an  altar,  Anchieta  advanced  into  the 
interior  of  the  country.  He  penetrated  virgin  forests,  swam 
across  streams,  climbed  the  roughest  mountains,  plunged  into 
the  solitude  of  the  plains,  confronted  savage  beasts,  and  aban- 
doned himself  entirely  to  the  care  of  Providence.     All  these 


364  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

fatigues,  and  all  these  dangers,  had  God  alone  for  witness; 
he  braved  them  for  no  other  motive  than  to  conquer  souls. 
As  soon  as  he  caught  sight  of  a  man,  Anchieta  quickened  his 
pace ;  his  bleeding  feet  stain  the  rocks  and  sands  of  the  des- 
ert, but  he  still  walks  onwards.  As  he  approached  the  sav-. 
age,  he  stretched  out  his  arms  towards  him,  and  with  words 
of  gentleness  strove  to  restrain  him  beneath  the  shadow  of  the 
Cross,  which  to  him  was  the  standard  of  peace.  Sometimes, 
when  the  savages  rejected  his  first  overtures,  he  threw  himself 
at  their  knees,  bathing  them  with  his  tears,  pressing  them  to 
his  heart,  and  striving  to  gain  their  confidence  by  every 
demonstration  of  love.  At  first  the  savages  made  small  ac- 
count of  this  abnegation,  but  the  Jesuit  was  not  discouraged. 
He  made  himself  their  servant,  and  studied  their  caprices 
like  a  slave ;  he  accompanied  them  in  their  wanderings,  en- 
tered into  their  familiarity,  shared  their  sufferings,  their 
labors,  their  pleasures.  By  degrees  he  taught  them  to  know 
God,  revealed  to  them  the  laws  of  universal  morality,  and 
prepared  them  for  civilization  after  he  had  formed  them  to 
Christianity." 

427.  Of  another  missionary,  Henry  Reichler ,  a  Prot- 
estant writer,  Clements  Markham,  says: 

"The  most  heroic  devotion  could  alone  have  enabled  him  to 
face  the  difficulties  which  surrounded  him.  During  twelve 
years  he  performed  forty  difficult  journeys,  through  dense 
forests,  or  in  canoes  on  rapid  and  dangerous  rivers.  He  never 
took  any  provisions  with  him,  but  wandered  barefooted  and 
half  naked  through  the  tangled  underwood,  trusting  wholly 
to  Providence  for  support.  His  efforts  were  rewarded  with 
success,  and  having  learnt  some  of  the  Indian  languages,  he 
at  last  surrounded  himself  with  followers." 

The  ignorance  and  barbarism  of  the  Indians  formed 
a  slight  obstacle  to  the  success  of  the  missions  as  com- 
pared with  the  selfishness  and  barbarity  of  the  Portu- 
guese colonists.  They  enslaved  and  destroyed  the  na- 
tives relentlessly  and  hated  their  friends  and  protect- 


SPANISH  AMERICA.  365 

ors,  the  missionaries,  with  a  hatred  so  deadly  that  at 
last  it  secured  their  expulsion  from  the  country. 

428.  The  Las  Casas  of  Brazil  was  Antonio Vieir a, 
court  preacher  in  Lisbon  and  intimate  personal  friend 
and  adviser  of  the  royal  family.  He  craved  the  mis- 
sionary life  and  sought  to  sail  without  permission  to 
America,  in  a  clandestine  way.  He  was  detected  and 
held  back  by  the  royal  mandate.  But  at  last,  after 
several  romantic  episodes,  he  got  off  to  Brazil.  He 
gave  himself  with  intense  devotion  to  work  among 
the  natives.  He  was  not  only  a  statesman  and  a  mis- 
sionary ;  he  was  also  one  of  the  world's  greatest  preach- 
ers. With  consummate  tact  he  secured  an  invitation 
from  some  of  the  worst  of  the  enslaving  colonists  to 
preach  to  them  on  the  subject.  There  was  a  crowded 
house.  He  skillfully  and  passionately  lifted  them  to 
such  a  height  of  moral  sensibility  that,  at  a  later  meet- 
ing that  very  day,  they  solemnly  signed  an  agree- 
ment guaranteeing  some  semblance  of  justice  to  the 
natives.  There  was  real  improvement  for  a  time.  But 
greed  was  too  strong  for  conscience.  He  then  went 
to  Lisbon  in  behalf  of  the  Indians.  His  discourses  to 
king  and  council,  which  secured  strong  measures  for 
Brazil,  and  his  plea  with  the  Jesuit  Conclave  to  be  al- 
lowed to  return  to  Brazil,  in  spite  of  the  king's  wish 
to  the  contrary,  read  still — even  in  a  translation  and 
to  men  of  another  form  of  religion — like  the  words 
of  a  man  who  was  at  the  same  time  a  prophet  of  right- 
eousness and  an  apostle  of  grace,  inspired  to  the 
noblest  pitch  of  Christlikeness.  Vieira  prevailed  and 
went  back  from  a  position  of  high  influence  to  do  the 


366  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

everyday  work  of  a  humble  missionary  among  sav- 
ages. 

In  the  first  seventy-five  years  of  mission  work  in 
Brazil,  222  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  were  sent 
there,  hundreds  more  later,  as  well  as  some  from  the 
Franciscan  and  other  orders.  They  planted  so  well 
that  a  hundred  years  after  their  expulsion  there  re- 
mained 800,000  Christian  Indians  in  Brazil. 

429.  The  regions  south  of  Brazil  were  the  scene  of 
still  more  successful  missionary  operations.  More  than 
5,000  Spanish  missionaries  of  the  Jesuit  Company,  be- 
sides many  of  other  nations  and  of  other  orders,  gave 
themselves  to  heroic  service  in  the  vast  region  between 
the  Parana  and  Paraguay  rivers  and  the  Andes  Moun- 
tains and  southward  almost  to  Cape  Horn,  between 
1586  and  1767. 

Lucas  Cavallero,  in  his  single-hearted  devotion  to 
Paraguay,  reminds  us  of  Xavier  in  his  work  for  the 
Indies.  Manuel  de  Ortega  might  well  be  called  the 
Apostle  of  Paraguay,  had  he  not  been  accompanied  and 
followed  by  such  a  number  of  apostolic  men  that  it 
seems  unjust  to  name  one  in  preference  to  half-a-dozen 
others.  Ortega  was  one  of  the  first.  Cypriano  Baraza, 
one  hundred  years  later,  was  one  of  the  foremost.  He 
accomplished  great  reforms  and  founded  permanent 
work  among  the  Indians,  but  was  finally  murdered  by 
them. 

Ortega  and  his  comrades  on  their  way  to  the  field 
were  captured  by  the  English  and  set  adrift  in  an  open 
boat  without  adequate  provisions  or  even  oars,  seven 
hundred  miles  from  Buenos  Ayres.     But  they  reached 


SPANISH    AMERICA.  367 

the  port.  Then,  traveling  a  thousand  miles  northeast- 
ward across  the  vast,  treeless  pampas,  they  met  other 
Jesuits  who  had  been  sent  almost  as  far  southward  from 
Peru.  Here,  in  the  Upper  La  Plata  basin,  they  began 
to  subdue  the  wild  and  brutal  tribes  by  fearlessness, 
combined  with  utmost  gentleness.  They  learned  the 
language,  nursed  the  sick,  fed  the  hungry,  overcame 
unspeakable  ignorance  and  indolence,  developing  the 
bands  of  savages  into  peaceable,  industrious,  highly 
moral  communities,  fitly  called  "Reductions."  In  1717 
there  were  thirty  reductions  containing  more  than 
100,000  baptized  Indians  in  one  province  of  Paraguay. 
Between  1610  and  1768,  702,086  Guaranys,  adult  and 
infant,  were  baptized.  They  were  given  letters  and  the 
beginning  of  a  literature,  along  with  a  practical  and 
diversified  industrial  education.  The  following  sen- 
tences from  Robert  Southey  have  special  weight  when 
it  is  remembered  that  his  gifted  pen  was,  in  general, 
hostile  to  Romanism : 

"In  every  Reduction,  not  only  was  the  knowledge  of  reading, 
writing  and  arithmetic  literally  universal,  but  there  were  some 
Indians  who  were  able  to  read  Spanish  and  Latin  as  well  as 
their  own  tongue.  Besides  carpenters,  masons  and  black- 
smiths, they  had  turners,  carvers,  printers  and  gilders ;  they 
cast  bells  and  built  organs."  From  roving  hunters  they  be- 
came settled  agriculturists.  "The  Indians  of  the  Reductions 
were  a  brave  and  industrious  and  a  comparatively  polished 
people."  "The  inhabitants  for  many  generations  enjoyed  a 
greater  exemption  from  physical  and  moral  evil  than  any 
other  inhabitants  of  the  globe." 

430.  Something  similar  to  the  missionary  work 
which  we  have  seen  going  on  in  the  vast  valleys  of  the 
Amazon  and  of  the  La  Plata  was  taking  place  at  the 


368  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

same  time  in  the  smaller  territories  of  Iberian  America. 
The  papal  sects  which  furnished  the  chief  missionaries 
were  the  Dominican  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  Jesuit 
in  Brazil  and  Paraguay. 

Francis  dc  Solani,  a  Franciscan,  has  been  called  the 
Apostle  of  Peru.  The  Dominicans  were  active  there 
at  an  early  day,  especially  in  educational  work.  The 
University  of  Lima,  now  known  as  St.  Mark,  was  es- 
tablished in  a  convent  of  their  order  in  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

The  Augustinian  missionaries  in  Peru  included 
among  their  number  men  who  had  renounced  large 
fortunes  in  order  to  give  themselves  to  work  for  the 
conversion  of  the  Indians.  They  were  not  allowed 
to  receive  gold,  silver  or  other  valuables  from  the  na- 
tives except  food.  It  was  hoped  that  the  strong  con- 
trast between  their  conduct  in  this  respect  and  that  of 
other  Spaniards  would  lead  the  natives  to  understand 
that  the  missionaries  sought  only  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  the  people.  Vivera  was  instrumental  in  leading 
one  of  the  Incas,  Serai  Tupac,  to  Christ. 

The  Jesuits  established  missions  in  Peru  before 
1690.  Stanislaus  Arlet  writes  in  1698  of  work  among 
the  forest  tribes  in  the  mountains : 

"We  entered  the  Country  of  these  Barbarians  without  Arms 
or  Soldiers,  accompanied  only  by  Christian  Indians  (our 
Guides  and  Interpreters)."  Rapid  progress  was  made  not 
only  in  nominal  conversion  but  also  in  real  transformation 
of  life. 

"Our  Arguments)  against  the  Plurality  of  Wives  made  so 
strong  an  Impression  on  them,  that  they  all  (three  families 
excepted)  complied  with  our  Arguments  and  Exhortations 
against  that  very  prevailing  Custom.     We  have  been  as  sue- 


SPANISH    AMERICA.  369 

cessful  in  reclaiming  them  from  Drunkenness.  Some  women 
have  already  learned  to  spin  and  to  make  Linen  Cloth. 
As  to  the  other  Missions  founded  hereabouts 
within  these  ten  years,  you  are  to  know,  reverend  Father,  that 
the  Christian  Religion  is  said  to  make  a  very  great  Progress 
in  them,  upwards  of  40,000  Barbarians  having  already  been 
baptized.     The  Churches  are  thronged  with  auditors." 

431.  Louis  Bertrand,  a  Dominican,  labored  with 
great  devotion  in  New  Granada  (now  Colombia)  from 
1562  to  1569.  His  biographer,  Byrne,  says  that  "in 
three  years  he  brought  more  than  10,000  persons  under 
the  sweet  yoke  of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  Jesuit,  Alonzo  de  Sandobal,  who  was  sent  to 
Cartagena,  Colombia,  in  1605  especially  to  do  mission 
work  among  the  Spaniards,  was  so  impressed  with  the 
condition  of  the  Mohammedan  and  pagan  slaves  im- 
ported from  Africa  as  he  saw  them  landed  by  ship-loads 
in  Cartagena,  that,  turning  aside  from  the  work  to  which 
he  had  been  appointed,  he  made  himself  depot-master 
for  the  slave  ships  and  their  oppressed  cargoes.  When 
he  was  recalled  to  Peru,  Peter  Claver  became  his  suc- 
cessor. Claver  gave  himself  so  completely  to  the  serv- 
ice of  the  slaves  that  he  was  called  "The  Father  of  the 
Negroes."  On  the  arrival  of  the  slave-ships  he  was 
at  the  pier  to  meet  them,  to  take  each  slave  by  the 
hand,  to  minister  to  the  sick,  to  cheer  the  despondent, 
to  speak  of  hope ;  and  he  proved  the  sincerity  of  his 
words  by  his  deeds  of  mercy,  his  absolute  devotion. 
From  1615  to  1654  he  made  himself  the  slave  of 
slaves,  ministering  to  them  like  a  tender,  self-forget- 
ting mother,  stopping  at  no  service,  however  menial 
and  repulsive.  He  also  carried  his  work  among  the 
natives,  penetrating  to  remote  and  regions. 


370  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

In  Guiana  more  than  one  hundred  members  of  the 
Company  of  Jesus  toiled  before  1711. 

The  most  fascinating-  account  of  the  Jesuits  in  South 
America  is  that  which  makes  up  a  considerable  part 
of  Robert  Southey's  three  sumptuous  volumes  on  the 
"History  of  Brazil."  In  spite  of  his  rank  protestant- 
ism he  thoroughly  appreciated  these  Christlike  mis- 
sionaries and  civilizers.  Southey  as  a  poet  also  wrote 
"A  Tale  of  Paraguay."  This  narrative  poem  of  some 
two  thousand  lines  has  less  literary  charm  than  the 
prose  history.  In  the  preface  he  affirms  that  it  is 
founded,  though  as  he  hopes  not  foundered,  on  fact. 

432.  In  Central  America  we  may  take  space  to  men- 
tion but  one  of  many  missionary  achievements.  There 
was  a  region  of  most  turbulent  natives,  north  of  Guate- 
mala. It  was  called  "The  Land  of  War."  Las  Casas 
and  three  other  Dominicans  succeeded  in  subduing  this 
region  completely  by  missionary  means,  having  first 
secured  a  written  pledge  from  the  civil  authorities  that 
no  Spanish  soldier  or  trader  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
that  country. 

433.  The  Christian  conquest  of  Mexico  was  made  by 
a  great  number  of  workers,  none  of  whom  stand  out 
in  great  prominence.  The  Franciscans  seem  to  have 
done  more  than  any  other  one  sect,  with  the  Domin- 
icans next. 

The  Augustinians  devoted  themselves  especially 
to  the  physical  needs  of  the  Indians,  building  hospitals 
in  connection  with  their  convents.  Alfonso  de  Vera- 
cruz was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  one  of  the  chief 
founders  and  teachers  of  the  University  of  Mexico.  He 


SPANISH    AMERICA.  371 

was  a  champion  of  the  Indians  and  in  opposition  to 
many  of  his  contemporaries  he  advocated  their  ad- 
mission to  all  the  privileges  of  the  church. 

Peter  of  Ghent,  who  refused  to  accept  any  rank 
above  that  of  a  lay  brother,  spent  fifty  years  as  a 
teacher  of  Mexican  Indians  in  the  way  of  Christianity 
as  he  understood  it.  He  not  only  taught  them  to 
abandon  Aztec  idols  in  favor  of  Romish  images,  he 
taught  them  also  reading,  writing,  music,  painting, 
carving  and  other  arts,  founding  schools  as  well  as 
churches.  The  chief  ecclesiastic  of  the  country  said, 
"I  am  not  the  Archbishop  of  Mexico,  but  Brother 
Peter  of  Ghent  is!" 

Before  the  middle  of  the  16th  century,  according 
to  Bishop  Zumarraga,  more  than  one  million  Indians 
had  been  baptized  in  Mexico  by  the  Franciscans  alone, 
five  hundred  heathen  temples  had  been  abandoned  and 
twenty  thousand  idols  destroyed. 

Mexico  soon  became  a  center  of  missions  to  the 
regions  beyond.  It  was  from  Mexico  that  a  knowledge 
of  Christ  was  carried  to  the  Ladrone  and  the  Philip- 
pine Islands.  A  great  missionary  fund  was  estab- 
lished by  devout  and  wealthy  Mexicans,  the  income  of 
which  did  good  work  for  generations,  until  sequestered 
by  the  government.  Payment  on  account  of  it  to  mis- 
sions in  California  has  been  secured  by  the  interven- 
tion of  the  United  States  Government. 

434.  It  was  difficult  for  one  not  a  Spaniard  to  enter 
Mexico  400  years  ago,  but  Samuel  Champlain  suc- 
ceeded in  accomplishing  the  feat  about  the  year  1600, 
and  this  is  his  report  of  the  way  in  which  the  natives 


372 


TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 


were  brought  to  the  churches.  The  account  is  corro- 
borated by  Gage,  who  smuggled  himself  into  the  coun- 
try thirty-five  years  after  Champlain.    Champlain  says 

that  the 

"Spaniards  were  constrained  to  take  away  the  Inquisition, 
and  allow  them  (the  natives)  personal  liberty,  granting  them 
a  more  mild  and  tolerable  rule  of  life,  to  bring  them  to  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  the  belief  of  the  holy  church;  for  if 
they  had  continued  still  to  chastise  them  according  to  the 
rigor  of  the  said  Inquisition,  they  would  have  caused  them 
all  to  die  by  fire.  The  system  that  is  now  used  is,  that  in 
every  estance  (estancia),  which  are  like  our  villages,  there  is 
a  priest  who  regularly  instructs  them,  the  said  priest  having 
a  list  of  the  names  and  surnames  of  all  the  Indians  who  in- 
habit the  village  under  his  charge. 

"There  is  also  an  Indian,  who  is  as  the  fiscal  of  the  village, 
and  he  has  another  and  similar  list ;  and  on  the  Sunday,  when 
the  priest  wishes  to  say  mass,  all  the  said  Indians  are  obliged 
to  present  themselves  to  hear  it ;  and  before  the  priest  begins 
the  mass  he  takes  his  list  and  calls  them  all  by  their  names 
and  surnames ;  and  should  any  of  them  be  absent,  he  is  marked 
upon  the  list,  and  the  mass  being  said,  the  priest  charges  the 
Indian  who  serves  as  fiscal  to  inquire  privately  where  the  de- 
faulters are,  and  to  bring  them  to  the  church ;  in  which,  being 
brought  before  the  priest,  he  asks  them  the  reason  why  they 
did  not  come  to  the  divine  service,  for  which  they  allege  some 
excuse,  if  they  can  find  any;  and  if  the  excuses  are  not  found 
to  be  true  or  reasonable,  the  said  priest  orders  the  fiscal  to 
give  the  said  defaulters  thirty  or  forty  blows  with  a  stick, 
outside  the  church,  and  before  all  the  people." 

435.  The  Californias,  Lower  and  Upper,  had  been 
visited  by  Spaniards,  including  priests,  many  times  be- 
fore 1683,  when  the  first  mission  was  opened.  The 
missionary  was  a  German  Jesuit,  Eusebius  Khuen 
(Kino),  who  had  formerly  been  a  professor  of  mathe- 
matics at  Ingoldstadt,  and  a  distinguished  astronomer 


SPANISH  AMERICA.  373 

of  the  fatherland.  The  mission  was  not  permanently 
established,  however,  till  1698,  when  M.  Picolo  and 
John  Salvatierra  explored  the  peninsula  for  missionary 
purposes.  Before  the  beginning  of  1702  they  had  es- 
tablished there  three  missions. 

"Each  Mission  consists  of  several  Villages.  A  Chapel  had 
been  built  for  the  second  Mission ;  but  being  found  too 
small,  we  have  begun  to  raise  a  lofty  Church,  with  Brick* 
Walls,  and  design  to  cover  it  with  Timber."  .  .  .  With 
regard  to  the  Missionaries,  'twas  with  great  Pleasure  I 
heard,  since  my  being  here  [capital  of  Mexico]  that  our  King 
Philip  V,  whom  God  long  preserve,  has  already  provided  for 
them,  in  a  Manner  worthy  of  his  Piety  and  Grandeur;  his 
Majesty,  the  Instant  he  was  informed  of  the  Progress  which 
the  Christian  Religion  made  in  these  Parts,  settling  six 
thousands  Crowns  a  year  on  our  Mission.  This  will  be  suf- 
ficient to  support  a  great  number  of  Gospel-labourers,  who 
will  not  fail  to  come  to  our  assistance." 

436.  As  early  as  1544  Louis  Cancer  and  other  Do- 
minicans were  sent  by  the  Spaniards  to  Florida  in  a  ship 
fitted  out  by  royal  authority  for  exclusively  mission- 
ary purposes.  But  they  were  driven  off  by  the  natives. 
Fifteen  years  later  a  number  of  Franciscans  accom- 
panied Don  Tristam  de  Luna's  attempt  to  found  a 
colony  on  Pensacola  Bay.  But  the  first  mission  work 
to  be  actively  established  radiated  from  St.  Augustine, 
being  begun  in  1566  by  John  Roger  and  two  other 
Jesuits.  They  had  a  school  for  Indian  children  in 
Havana,  Cuba.  This  mission  continued  for  six  years, 
was  encouraged  by  the  Pope  himself,  and  had  in  all 
eighteen  or  twenty  of  the  Company  of  Jesus  on  the 
field.  They  undertook  work  among  the  Creeks  and 
Cherokees  in  the  Carolinas  and  even  made  an  attempt 


374  TW0  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

in  Virginia,  but  finally  abandoned  this  mission.  It  is  a 
suggestive  fact  that  the  two  most  dauntless  of  mis- 
sionary bodies,  the  Jesuits  and  the  Moravians,  have 
felt  justified  in  withdrawing  from  unproductive  fields. 

After  an  interval  of  twenty  years  John  Silva  and 
eleven  other  Franciscans  in  1592  undertook  work  from 
St.  Augustine. 

Within  five  years  they  had  six  stations  and  many 
nominal  converts.  But  a  native  uprising  destroyed 
the  work.  In  1601,  however,  the  mission  was  renewed. 
In  1617  thirty-five  followers  of  Francis  had  entered 
Florida  and  established  twenty  stations.  The  work 
was  extended  among  the  Cherokees  and  the  Apalaches, 
reaching  Georgia  as  well  as  Western  Florida.  Many 
Christian  Indian  settlements  were  formed.  But  all 
were  scattered  by  the  English,  to  whom  Florida  was 
ceded  in  1763. 

437.  The  conversion  of  the  natives  of  New  Mexico 
from  paganism  to  Romanism  had  two  distinct  periods, 
preceded  by  some  heroic  but  futile  attempts.  Mark  of 
Nice  planted  a  cross  on  a  hill  among  the  Zunis  in  1539. 
Soon  after  two  other  Franciscans,  John  de  Padilla  and 
Louis  de  Escalona,  attempted  to  found  missions,  but 
were  killed  by  the  natives.  Forty  years  later  a  regu- 
lar mission  was  undertaken.  But  after  a  few  tokens  of 
good  the  missionaries  were  killed  like  their  predeces- 
sors. 

In  1597  a  Spanish  military  post  was  founded  on  the 
Northern  Rio  Grande  and  called  San  Gabriel.  The 
leadership  of  the  missionary  part  of  the  undertaking 
frequently  changed  at  first,  but  when  Francis  de  Esco- 


SPANISH  AMERICA.  375 

bat  became  the  head  the  work  developed  great  suc- 
cess. He  had  five  co-laborers.  By  1608  the  Francis- 
cans had  baptized  8,000  Indians.  Other  missionaries 
reinforced  the  mission  as  it  rapidly  expanded.  Within 
thirty  years  of  the  beginning  twenty-seven  stations 
had  been  opened.  Some  of  them  had  fine  church  build- 
ings. Many  of  the  natives  had  been  taught  to  read 
and  write.  In  spite  of  all  this  the  natives  revolted 
against  the  foreign  domination,  and  by  1680  succeeded 
in  driving  all  the  missionaries  from  the  country. 

About  1740  mission  work  was  resumed  on  a  large 
scale  and  carried  on  with  great  and  permanent  results. 
As  soon  as  1748  there  were  twenty-one  stations,  near- 
ly all  of  which  have  continued  ever  since  to  be  Roman 
Catholic  centers.  Many  of  the  Indians  in  this  region 
were  semi-civilized  to  start  with.  By  the  time  of  Wil- 
liam Carey  the  natives  of  New  Mexico  had  been  largely 
won  under  the  banner  of  the  cross. 

438.  The  work  of  the  Spanish  missionaries  (Francis- 
cans) in  Texas  was  like  that  in  other  parts  of  the  Mex- 
ican territory.  The  earliest  attempt  was  made  by 
Andrew  d'  Olmos  and  John  de  Mesa  in  1544.  Not 
much  was  undertaken,  however,  till  150  years  later. 
Then  work  was  carried  on  with  considerable  success 
among  many  tribes.  But,  unlike  that  in  New  Mexico, 
the  results  have  been  almost  entirely  scattered  under 
United  States  rule. 

439.  We  have  had  a  glimpse  of  the  beginning  of  mis- 
sion work  in  Lower  California.  In  1768  the  Spanish 
government  withdrew  the  Jesuit  missionaries  from  that 
region  as  from  every  other.    Their  place  was  taken  in 


376  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Lower  California  by  Franciscans,  who  were  instructed 
not  only  to  man  the  old  stations,  but  also  to  plant 
new  ones  in  Upper  California.  So  the  work  began  on 
the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States.  It  was  under- 
taken in  a  very  systematic  and  thorough-going  way.  It 
was  to  be  a  military  as  well  as  a  missionary  occupa- 
tion. Colonists  of  Christian  Indians  were  also  taken 
and  a  supply  of  livestock  for  the  new  settlements.  The 
first  expedition  went  partly  by  land  and  partly  by  sea. 
The  leader  of  the  missionary  contingent  was  Juniper 
Serra. 

When  he  reached  San  Diego  he  found  that  four 
of  the  other  missionaries,  Crespi,  Vizcaino,  Parron  and 
Gomoz,  had  reached  that  point  with  another  section  of 
the  expedition.  There  these  five  Franciscans  formally 
opened  a  mission,  July  16,  1769.  Within  a  few  years 
474  natives  had  been  baptized.  They  were  given  some 
book  education  and  also  training  in  agriculture  and  in 
various  useful  handicrafts.  They  learned  to  raise  cot- 
ton and  to  manufacture  cloth.  The  California  mis- 
sions were  industrial  as  well  as  evangelistic. 

In  1770  a  mission  was  founded  at  Monterey.  There 
ten  more  Franciscans  joined  Serra.  Mission  after 
mission  was  founded,  the  one  at  San  Francisco  in 
1776.  When  the  enthusiastic  leader,  Serra,  died  in 
1784,  ten  stations  had  been  opened  and  about  ten  thou- 
sand Indians  christened.  The  first  mission  opened  by 
Palou,  the  successor  of  Serra,  was  at  Santa  Barbara 
in  1786.  By  the  end  of  the  century  seventeen  mission 
settlements  had  been  opened.  The  rule  was  to  leave 
two  missionaries,  some  live  stock  and  other  equipment* 


SPANISH   AMERICA.  377 

and  a  number  of  Christian  Indians  at  each  station. 
The  surrounding  natives  were  gradually  drawn  to  the 
settlement  and  there  subjected  to  rigid  discipline,  which 
was  yet  so  good  and  obviously  to  their  advantage  that 
many  savages  gladly  allowed  themselves  to  be  tamed. 
In  California  as  nowhere  else  the  Franciscans  followed 
the  methods  which  had  made  the  Jesuits  so  success- 
ful in  their  "reductions"  in  Paraguay. 

440.  One  sad  feature  of  the  mission  work  in  Span- 
ish America  was  the  wide-reaching  and  terrible  opposi- 
tion of  the  colonists,  most  of  them  members  of  the 
same  church  as  the  missionaries. 

Another  deplorable  feature  of  the  missions  was  the 
conflict  of  the  sects  among  them.  These  various 
Roman  sects  were  not  only  jealous  of  each  other  but 
often  bitterly  antagonistic  even  to  the  extent  of  thwart- 
ing and  destroying  one  another's  work. 

One  of  the  deep  defects  of  the  work  was  the  mass 
of  superstition  with  which  it  was  encumbered.  The 
devoted  missionaries  would  go  without  the  simplest 
necessaries  of  life,  but  saddle  upon  their  shoulders 
great  packs  of  paraphernalia  for  celebrating  their  me- 
chanical ritual  and  so  tramp  through  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  miles  of  forest  and  swamp  and  climb  al- 
most impossible  Andean  heights.  Their  master  super- 
stition was  the  idea  that  the  rite  of  baptism  has  saving 
efficacy.  This  has  been  the  master  superstition  of 
Christendom.  They  had  it  in  its  most  perfect  form. 
They  sincerely  and  passionately  believed  that  a 
few  drops  of  water  on  a  dying  savage,  accompanied 
by   the   mumbling   of   the   baptismal    formula,   would 


378  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

make  the  eternal  difference  to  him  between  heaven  and 
hell,  whatever  his  life  had  been.  Denser  still  was  the 
idea  that  the  same  ceremony  on  a  new-born  babe  would 
make  him  a  Christian,  whatever  his  life  might  prove 
to  be.  The  natives  were  fully  equal  to  the  missionaries 
in  believing  in  the  magic  power  of  ceremony.  Their 
first  inference  in  some  regions  was  that  baptism  was  a 
fatal  foreign  spell  to  be  avoided  if  possible.  But  the 
missionaries  were  equal  to  this  critical  situation  and 
having  moistened  the  sleeves  of  their  robes  before- 
hand could  deftly  squeeze  out  the  saving  drops  un- 
known to  all  concerned.  Oh,  that  making  Christians 
of  men  were  so  easy  a  matter !  Who  would  not  com- 
pass land  and  sea  to  christen  all  mankind  ? 

The  deepest  defect  of  all  in  these  missions  was  the 
indulgence  to  a  considerable  extent  of  the  idea  that 
religion  can  exist  and  be  genuine  without  morality. 
To  a  certain  degree,  however,  the  missionaries  were 
uncompromising  in  their  moral  requirements. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  faulty  as  the  work  was,  the  west- 
ern hemisphere  owes  an  incalculable  debt  of  gratitude 
to  the  missionary  zeal  which  came  from  the  Spanish 
peninsula  between  1492  and  1792,  the  world-shaping 
eras  of  Columbus  and  of  Carey. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

FRENCH  AMERICA. 

441.  Abundant  records  of  these  missions.  442.  Nova 
Scotia.  443.  Maine.  444.  Province  of  Quebec.  445- 
Ontario.  446.  New  York.  447.  Michigan  and  Wis- 
consin. 448.  Illinois.  449.  Louisiana.  450.  Final 
outcome. 

441.  The  French  missions  in  North  America  prob- 
ably have  more  abundant  records  than  any  other  mis- 
sions in  the  world.  They  certainly  have  the  fullest 
record  that  ever  has  been  published  in  the  English 
language.  The  Jesuit  missionaries  sent  home  both 
formal  and  informal  accounts  of  their  work.  Many 
of  these  reports  were  published  at  the  time  and 
aroused  great  interest  in  France,  calling  forth  gener- 
ous contributions  for  the  maintenance  of  the  work. 
They  have  been  republished  from  time  to  time,  with 
the  addition  of  documents  previously  unpublished.  No 
student  can  be  perfectly  contented  until  he  has  seen 
these  records  for  himself.  They  are  to  be  found  in  all 
large  libraries.  Their  last  and  fullest  edition  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired. 

It   is  published   by   the   Burrows   Brothers,   Cleve- 
land, O.,  and  is  entitled  "The  Jesuit  Relations  and  Al- 

379 


380  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

lied  Documents,  Travels  and  Explorations  of  the  Jesuit 
Missionaries  in  New  France,  1610-1791.  The  original 
French,  Latin  and  Italian  Texts,  with  English  Trans- 
lations and  Notes :  Illustrated  by  Portraits,  Maps  and 
Facsimiles.  Edited  by  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites,  Secre- 
tary of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin." 
Sixty-six  volumes  appeared  between  1896  and  1900, 
bringing  out  the  documents  down  to  1712.  That 
would  be  equal  to  thirty-three  volumes,  if  they  were 
printed  in  only  one  language  to  cover  a  single  cen- 
tury. 

This  simple  but  stupendous  literary  fact  brings 
before  the  mind,  as  perhaps  nothing  else  could,  the 
moral  magnitude  of  the  French  missions  in  Amer- 
ica. They  were  conducted  by  well-educated  men,  men 
of  refinement,  in  the  midst  of  unspeakable  savagery, 
with  a  personal  devotion  and  heroism  never  surpassed. 
Much  of  the  copious  record  is  not  that  of  missionary 
work  in  the  strictest  sense,  but  it  is  all  incidental  to 
the  work  and  illustrative  of  it ;  and  most  of  it  is  written 
by  the  missionaries  themselves  in  the  interests  of  their 
enterprise.  The  works  of  John  G.  Shea  (R.  C.)  and  of 
Francis  Parkman  (Prot.),  to  say  nothing  of  others, 
put  the  substance  of  the  history  within  reach  of  the 
English  reading  public  a  generation  ago.  There  is  no 
necessity,  therefore,  for  more  than  an  outline  in  a  work 
so  compact  as  the  present. 

442.  The  first  French  mission  work  in  America  was 
in  the  Maritime  Provinces  of  Canada,  and  was  con- 
ducted by  Jesuits  and  other  Roman  Catholic  workers. 
King  Henry  IV,  in  the  grant  to  the  Protestants,  had 


FRENCH  AMERICA.  381 

stipulated  that  the  natives  should  be  converted  to  the 
Roman  Church  alone.  Accordingly,  in  1610  the  Hu- 
guenot proprietors  brought  a  secular  priest,  Jesse 
Fleche,  to  Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia.  The  first  report 
of  his  work  was  written  by  the  hand  of  a  Protestant, 
Marc  Lescarbot,  a  Paris  lawyer,  poet  and  historian. 
He  gives  a  glowing  account  of  "The  Conversion  of 
the  Savages  who  were  Baptized  in  New  France  during 
this  year  1610."  An  Indian  sagamore,  by  the  name 
of  Memberton,  reputed  to  be  one  hundred  years  old, 
was  baptized,  with  twenty  of  his  people.  Lescarbot  re- 
ports another  chief  as  having  come  near  to  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

A  year  later  two  Jesuits  arrived,  Pierre  Biard  and 
Ennemonde  Masse.  Three  others  soon  followed.  Ex- 
tensive exploration  was  made  and  something  of  the 
language  learned.  But  in  1613,  being  then  in  the  new 
French  colony  on  Mt.  Desert  Island,  they  were  killed 
or  carried  away  at  the  destruction  of  the  place  by  the 
Virginians. 

From  1619  to  1624  a  party  of  Franciscans  of  the 
rigid  Recollet  branch  toiled  in  Acadia.  Others  again 
of  the  same  order  from  1630  to  1633.  The  Jesuits  then 
took  up  the  work  with  a  central  station  on  Cape  Breton 
Island  and  prosecuted  it  intermittently  for  nearly  forty 
years,  when  they  abandoned  the  field.  About  1673 
the  Recollets  resumed  the  work  and  carried  it  on  till 
all  the  Micmacs  from  Cape  Gaspe  to  Nova  Scotia  were 
counted  Christians. 

443.  For  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  (1646-1796), 
though  with  many  interruptions,  missions  were  con- 


382  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS   OF   MISSIONS. 

ducted  among  the  Abenakis,  in  what  is  now  the  State 
of  Maine.  Gabriel  Druillettes  was  the  founder  of  the 
mission.  The  central  station  was  at  Norridgewock,  on 
the  Kennebec  River.  Many  were  won  to  Christ.  But 
the  chronic  troubles  between  the  French  and  the  Eng- 
lish were  naturally  acute  at  this  point.  In  1688  James 
and  Sabastian  Bigot  were  on  the  Kennebec  missions 
and  Peter  Thury,  who  was  not  a  Jesuit,  established  a 
mission  on  the  Penobscot.  The  Indian  converts  were 
devoted  to  the  French,  not  without  reason.  After  the 
Peace  of  Utrecht  in  171 3,  the  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts urged  a  Puritan  missionary  on  the  Indians.  The 
following  reply  attributed  to  them  shows  the  French 
work  in  its  best  light,  not  only  for  Maine,  but  for  all 
the  northern  country  to  the  Mississippi  River.  To 
have  a  balanced  view  one  would  need  to  keep  in  mind 
the  fact  that  French  trappers  and  traders  as  greedy  as 
the  English  nearly*  always  preceded  the  French  mis- 
sionaries, and  the  fact  that  from  the  earliest  days  there 
were  not  wanting  English  missionaries  who  were  de- 
voted to  the  Indians : 

"When  you  first  came  here,  you  saw  me  long  before  the 
French  governors,  but  neither  your  predecessors  nor  your 
ministers  ever  spoke  to  me  of  prayer  or  the  Great  Spirit. 
They  saw  my  furs,  my  beaver  and  moose  skins,  and  of  this 
alone  they  thought;  these  alone  they  sought,  and  so  eagerly 
that  I  have  not  been  able  to  supply  them  enough.  When  I 
had  much,  they  were  my  friends,  and  only  then.  One  day 
my  canoe  missed  the  route ;  I  lost  my  path  and  wandered  a 
long  way  at  random,  until  at  last  I  landed  near  Quebec,  in  a 
great  village  of  the  Algonqnins,  where  the  Black-gowns  were 
teaching.     Scarcely  had  I  arrived  when  one  of  them  came  to 


FRENCH  AMERICA.  383 

see  me.  I  was  loaded  with  furs,  but  the  Black-gown  of 
France  disdained  to  look  at  them ;  he  spoke  to  me  of  the 
Great  Spirit,  of  heaven,  of  hell,  of  the  prayer,  which  is  the 
only  way  to  reach  heaven.  I  heard  him  with  pleasure 
and  was  so  delighted  by  his  words  that  I  remained  in  the  vil- 
lage near  him.  At  last  the  prayer  pleased  me  and  I  asked  to 
be  instructed ;  I  solicited  baptism  and  received  it.  Then  I  re- 
turned to  the  lodges  of  my  tribe  and  related  all  that  had  hap- 
pened. All  envied  my  happiness  and  wished  to  partake  it ; 
they,  too,  went  to  the  Black-gown  to  be  baptized.  Thus  have 
the  French  acted.  Had  you  spoken  to  me  of  the  prayer  as 
soon  as  we  met  I  should  now  be  so  unhappy  as  to  pray  like 
you,  for  I  could  not  have  told  whether  your  prayer  was  good 
or  bad.  Now  I  hold  to  the  prayer  of  the  French ;  I  agree  to 
it;  I  shall  be  faithful  to  it,  even  until  the  earth  is  burnt  and 
destroyed.  Keep  your  men,  your  gold  and  your  ministers ;  I 
will  go  to  my  French  father." 

From  first  to  last  there  were  two  missionaries  to 
French  colonists  and  twenty  to  the  Indians  in  Maine. 
At  least  eight  of  these  were  Jesuits.  The  most  famous 
was  Sebastian  Rale.  He  had  charge  of  the  work  thir- 
ty-one years.  Most  of  the  others,  except  Thury,  sim- 
ply made  a  missionary  visit.  Rale  was  killed  in  border 
strife  by  the  English  and  was  counted  a  martyr  by 
the  French.  In  the  end  most  of  the  Christian  Indians 
migrated  to  Canada. 

A  pleasant  episode  in  connection  with  the  French 
mission  in  New  England  was  the  visit  of  Druillettes 
to  Boston  as  an  envoy  of  his  government.  He  was 
received  with  great  cordiality  and  hospitality  by  the 
Puritans  and  by  the  Pilgrims.  We  are  most  interested 
in  his  meeting  at  Roxbury  with  John  Eliot,  who  had 
just  begun  his  work  for  Indians.     "I  arrived  at  Rosq- 


384  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

bray,  where  the  minister,  named  Master  Heliot,  who 
was  teaching  some  savages,  received  me  at  his  house, 
because  night  was  overtaking  me ;  he  treated  me  with 
respect  and  kindness,  and  begged  me  to  spend  the 
winter  with  him." 

444.  On  the  St.  Lawrence,  Champlain  introduced 
missionaries  at  Quebec  in  1615.  The  first  were  Recol- 
lets,Denis  Jamay,  Jean  df  Olbeau  and  Joseph  le  Caron, 
with  a  lay  brother,  Pacifigue  du  Plessis.  They  were 
reinforced  four  years  later  by  others  of  the  same  order. 
These  austere  disciples  of  Francis  of  Assisi,  in  their 
gray  robes  and  shod  only  with  wooden  sandals,  carried 
the  gospel  they  had  all  the  way  from  the  lower  St. 
Lawrence  to  Lake  Nipissing.  But  after  ten  years  they 
called  in  the  aid  of  the  followers  of  Ignatius  Loyala, 
whom  we  have  seen  doing  such  effective  work  in  Asia, 
Africa  and  South  America.  For  a  few  years  the 
Recollets  and  Jesuits  conducted  the  mission  jointly,  but 
without  marked  results.  All  were  carried  away  by  the 
English  in  1629. 

In  1632  France  gave  to  the  Company  of  Jesus  entire 
charge  of  the  work.  Paul  le  Jeone  came  as  head  of 
the  mission.  He  was  accompanied  by  Le  Noue  and  a 
lay-brother,  Gilbert.  During  the  annual  trade  gather- 
ings of  natives  at  Tadousac,  Three  Rivers  and  Mon- 
treal, as  well  as  Quebec,  the  missionaries  worked  with 
them  and  then  followed  them  in  their  wretched  wan- 
derings wherever  fish  and  game  could  be  found.  One 
of  the  most  intrepid  workers  in  this  way  was  Betuex. 
At  Sillery,  four  miles  from  Quebec,  a  stockaded  station 
was  established  for  the  protection  of  the  Algonquin  In- 


FRENCH  AMERICA.  385 

dians  from  the  Iroquois,  and  with  the  hope  of  leading 
them  from  nomadic  to  agricultural  habits. 

In  1639  the  first  women  arrived  to  engage  in  mis- 
sion work.  There  were  three  Hospital  nuns  who  came 
to  establish  a  Hotel-Dieux.  They  opened  their  first 
hospital  at  Sillery.  Before  long  they  moved  to  Quebec 
into  a  house  provided  for  them  by  the  Duchesse 
d'Aguillan.  In  the  same  ship  came  four  other  women 
workers,  three  Ursuline  nuns,  with  Marie  de  l'lncarna- 
tion  at  their  head,  accompanied  by  the  foundress  of 
their  work  in  Canada, Madame  de  la  Peltrie.  The  two 
named  were  women  of  most  romantic  careers.  Before 
many  months  had  gone  by  both  groups  of  delicate 
women  were  nursing  a  multitude  of  savages  through  a 
terrible  scourge  of  smallpox. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Saguenay,  Tadousac,  the  Jes- 
uits, under  the  leadership  of  Jean  du  Quen  established 
a  mission  among  the  Montagnais,  which  continued 
from  1640  to  1782.  The  missionaries  followed  their 
nomadic  people,  enduring  unspeakable  hardships, 
through  all  the  vast  wilds  to  Hudson  Bay,  where  a  sta- 
tion was  opened  in  1694.  A  chief  helper  in  the  work 
from  Tadousac  was  one  of  the  Montagnais  converts, 
Charles  Meiachkwat.  It  was  through  a  missionary 
journey  of  his  that  the  way  was  opened  for  Druillettes 
in  Maine. 

In  1641  a  missionary  settlement  was  made  by  the 
Jesuits  at  Montreal.  The  Sulpicians  were  allowed  to 
take  charge  of  this  mission,  which  was  afterward  re- 
moved to  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains,  on  the  lower 
part  of  the  Ottawa  River. 


386  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Jerome  Lalemant  came  to  Canada  as  Superior  of  the 
Jesuits  in  1637.  In  1649  he  wrote  that  when  he  came 
he  had  found  "but  one  Christian  Huron  family,  with 
two  or  three  which  composed  the  Algonquin  and  Mon- 
tagnais  Church,"  and  that  now,  after  but  twelve  years, 
"I  leave  in  it  hardly  any  family — Huron,  Algonquin 
or  Montagnais — that  is  not  thoroughly  Christianized." 

The  Indians  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  hav- 
ing been  driven  away  by  the  Iroquois,  a  mission  sta- 
tion was  opened  for  them  south  of  that  river,  on  the 
Chaudiere,  called  St.  Francis  de  Sales  (1685). 

445.  The  Jesuit  mission  which  had  the  most  of  dar- 
ing adventure  and  of  temporary  success,  was  that  to 
the  Hurons,  located  between  Lake  Simcoe  and  the 
great  Georgian  Bay  of  Lake  Huron.  The  Hurons  were 
in  race  more  closely  allied  to  the  Iroquois  than  to  the 
Algonquins.  They  were  less  nomadic  than  the  latter, 
engaged  more  in  agriculture  and  appeared  to  be  far- 
ther on  the  way  to  civilization,  though  still  inveterate 
savages. 

The  Recollet  Franciscan,  Le  Caron,  went  among 
them  in  16 15.  Others  of  that  order  during  the  next 
ten  years  did  heroic  pioneer  work,  especially  Nicholas 
Viel,  who  was  killed  by  a  treacherous  Indian  as  he  was 
nearing  Montreal  to  arrange  with  the  Jesuits  for  their 
co-operation. 

In  1625,  having  received  some  instruction  in  the 
Huron  language  from  the  Recollets  and  being  guided 
by  one  of  them,  Jean  de  Brebeuf  and  Le  Noue  went 
into  the  Huron  country.  Brebeuf  was  a  man  of  so 
great  physique  that  it  was  difficult  to  induce  the  In- 


FRENCH  AMERICA.  387 

dians  to  take  him  in  their  canoes  for  the  long  voyage 
up  the  Ottawa  river.  In  most  important  respects  he 
was  for  twenty-five  years  the  giant  of  the  mission.  He 
had  for  coadjutors  Daniel  Lalemant,  Gamier,  and  a 
full  score  more  of  the  Company  of  Jesus,  besides  many 
helpers  called  Donnes,  because  they  gave  themselves 
to  the  work,  and  many  more  French  artisans,  farmers 
and  workmen  employed  for  the  advancement  of  Chris- 
tianity among  the  Hurons.  But  with  all  their  bravery, 
patience  and  tact,  they  could  count  in  1640  only  one 
hundred  converts  out  of  a  population  of  16,000  Hurons. 
Often  at  imminent  peril  to  themselves,  they  had  bap- 
tized a  great  many  dying  infants,  however,  whose 
"salvation"  by  that  means  gave  the  devoted  mission- 
aries sweet  satisfaction. 

At  last,  in  spite  of  fierce  pagan  opposition,  the  work 
was  beginning  to  tell,  when  the  Iroquois  determined 
to  exterminate  their  cousins,  the  Hurons.  They  did 
the  work  with  a  terrific  hand.  By  1650,  the  Hurons 
as  a  distinct  people  were  no  more,  and  the  most  famous 
mission  of  the  Jesuits  in  North  America  was  aband- 
oned. Seven  of  the  Company  of  Jesus  had  laid  down 
their  lives  on  the  Huron  altar,  including  the  Titanic 
missionary,  Brebeuf. 

446.  According  to  Indian  custom,  many  of  the  con- 
quered Hurons  were  incorporated  with  the  conquer- 
ing tribes  of  the  Five  Nations  of  confederates  along  the 
Genesee  and  the  Mohawk.  Some  of  them  brought 
their  new-found  faith  with  them  and  pleaded  for  the 
ministrations  of  the  "Black  Robes." 

Meantime,    Isaac  Jogues  (1642)  and  Francis  Bres- 


388  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

sani  (1644)  had  been  captured  by  the  Iroquois,  taken 
to  their  country  and  most  inhumanly  tortured.  These 
two  Jesuits  were  rescued  by  the  Dutch  colonists  and 
sent  to  Europe.  Nothing  daunted,  they  were  soon  back 
in  America  and  in  1646  Jogues  went  as  a  peace  envoy 
to  his  former  tormentors  and  a  few  months  later  he 
went  among  them  again  to  plant  a  mission.  This  time 
they  cruelly  put  him  to  death.  He  had  borne  a  sin- 
cere and  noble  witness  to  Christ  among  the  bloody  Mo- 
hawks. 

Further  west,  a  mission  was  established  among  the 
Onondagas  by  Claude  Dablon  and  Peter  Chaumonot 
in  1655,  and  greatly  reinforced  the  next  year.  The 
active  influence  of  Huron  Christians  helped  the  work 
and  a  number  of  converts  were  made.  After  various 
ups  and  down,  the  French  government  in  Canada  lent 
a  strong  military  hand.  A  large  new  mission  force  was 
sent.  By  1668  there  were  Jesuits  among  all  the  Five 
Nations.  Some  distinguished  converts  were  made, 
Chiefs  Assendase,  Kryn  and  Saenrese.  Two  women 
who  received  the  name  of  Catherine  were  distin- 
guished, Tegakouita,  the  "Iroquois  Saint,"  and  Gan- 
neaktena,  the  founder  of  a  Christian  village.  In 
1708  the  last  Jesuit  missionary  left  this  region.  In  a 
half  century  there  had  been  some  forty  missionary 
priests  in  Northern  New  York,  most  of  them  Jesuits. 

447.  On  the  west  shores  of  the  upper  great  lakes 
now  in  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  there  were 
extensive  missions  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  before  1800.  The  natives  are  commonly 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Ottawas,  though  many  other 
tribes  were  included. 


JACQUES   MARQUETTE. 
G.  Trentanove. 


FRENCH  AMERICA.  389 

Pioneers  celebrated  mass  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  in 
1641  and  on  the  shores  of  Keweenaw  Bay  in  1660. 
A  mission  settlement  was  made  and  a  chapel 
built  at  La  Pointe,  western  Lake  Superior,  by  Claude 
Allouez  in  1665.  The  record  of  the  first  winter's  work 
is  characteristic  of  the  early  efforts  in  all  the  Roman 
Catholic  missions.  Eighty  infants  were  baptized  and 
four  adults,  three  of  the  latter  being  in  danger  of 
death.  But  Christ  was  made  known  to  multitudes  who 
had  never  heard  of  him.  At  the  end  of  two  years 
Allouez  made  the  long  voyage  to  Quebec  to  report  to 
his  superior.  In  two  days  after  making  his  report,  he 
started  back  from  civilization,  taking  Louis  Nicholas 
with  him.  Fragments  of  many  tribes  gathered  around 
La  Pointe.  The  missionaries  proclaimed  the  faith  to 
representatives  of  twenty-five  different  clans.  For 
some  thirty  years  Allouez  toiled  in  all  parts  of  the 
region  which  we  are  now  considering.  More  than 
any  other  one  man  he  was  its  apostle. 

He  was  succeeded  in  charge  of  the  work  at  La 
Pointe  by  Jacques  (James)  Marquette  best  known  of 
all  the  western  missionaries,  though  he  was  but  seven 
years  on  the  field.  He  had  a  gift  of  tongues.  During 
the  year's  preparation  at  Quebec  he  had  acquired  a 
usable  knowledge  of  six  Indian  dialects.  He  had  also 
a  large  endowment  of  the  pioneering  instinct  as  well 
as  unsurpassed  devotion.  It  was  in  1669  that  he  took 
charge  at  La  Pointe.  He  proposed  to  go  still  farther 
west  among  the  terrible  Sioux.  But  they  declined  his 
overtures  and  before  long  attacked  and  dispersed  the 
Indians  from  La  Pointe.    Many  of  them  fled  eastward 


390  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

to  the  straits  between  Lake  Michigan  and  Lake  Huron. 
The  missionary  came  with  them  in  1671.  The  next 
year  a  chapel  was  built  on  the  north  shore  of  the 
straits,  opposite  the  island  of  Mackinaw.  The  new 
station  was  named  Point  St.  Ignace,  after  Ignatius 
Loyola,  the  founder  of  the  Jesuits.  Five  hundred  In- 
dians settled  about  the  chapel  and  came  to  its  services, 
many  of  them  twice  a  day.  "The  minds  of  the  In- 
dians here,"  wrote  Marquette,  "are  now  more  mild, 
tractable  and  better  disposed  to  receive  instruction 
than  in  any  other  part."  The  people  who  gave  Mar- 
quette such  satisfaction  were  largely  a  remnant  of  the 
Hurons.  But  before  long  thirteen  hundred  Ottawas 
settled  at  St.  Ignace,  and  work  was  carried  on  among 
them.  The  mission  was  closed  in  1706  by  the  hostility 
of  Cadillac,  French  governor  at  Detroit.  Six  years 
later  it  was  re-opened  at  Old  Mackinaw,  on  the  southern 
shore  of  the  Strait. 

Meantime  our  old  friend  Druillettes,  whom  we  met 
in  New  England  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  has  come 
to  the  Sault.  By  ministry  to  the  sick  during  an  epi- 
demic he  has  won  all  hearts.  In  1670  a  general  coun- 
cil of  the  Indians  declared  the  place  to  be  Christian. 
The  veteran  minister  was  permitted  to  baptize  three 
hundred  in  a  single  year. 

While  these  things  were  going  on  at  the  Sault  and  at 
Mackinaw,  Allouez  had  passed  through  the  straits  into 
Lake  "Michihiganing"  (Michigan)  and  up  Green  Bay 
to  a  point  near  its  head,  where  six  Frenchmen  had  a 
trading-station.  There  Allouez  opened  a  mission,  nam- 
ing it  after  the  apostle  of  Asia,  St.  Francis  Xavier.    In 


FRENCH  AMERICA.  391 

the  spring  of  1670  he  went  up  the  Fox  River,  making 
known  to  a  distressed  and  harried  people  the  Suffering 
Saviour.  Passing  over  the  portage  into  the  Wisconsin 
River,  he  proclaimed  Christ  to  the  inhabitants  there. 
No  one  can  read  his  journals  without  falling  in  love 
with  this  simple-hearted  and  sincere  missionary.  He 
was  in  very  fact  a  member  of  the  Company  of  Jesus. 
The  work  among  several  different  tribes  in  the  Green 
Bay  country  prospered.  Louis  Andre  became  pastor 
at  Xavier  station,  Allouez  devoting  himself  to  the  peo- 
ple up  the  Fox  River.  At  Xavier  there  were  before 
many  years  five  hundred  church  members. 

In  1728  a  Jesuit  mission  was  established  below  De- 
troit on  the  Canadian  side  of  the  river  (Sandwich, 
Ont.)  for  the  special  benefit  of  remnants  of  the  Hu- 
r  3ns.  Armand  de  la  Richardie*  was  put  in  charge.  He 
opened  a  trading  post,  free  from  liquor,  at  which  such 
fair  treatment  was  given  that  many  Indians  gathered 
about  in  preference  to  Detroit. 

448.  Marquette  followed  Allouez'  track  over  the 
Fox  River  portage  into  the  Illinois  River  and  sailed 
down  the  latter  until  he  discovered  the  Mississippi 
River,  June  17,  1673.  He  followed  it  down  to  the  Ar- 
kansas and  then  returned  by  the  same  route.  He 
found  the  natives  friendly  and  promised  to  return  to 
them.  He  suffered  terribly  from  a  wasting  disease, 
but  set  out  in  1674  to  keep  his  promise,  going  this 
time  by  way  of  the  Chicago  River.  He  found  it  frozen, 
and,  with  his  two  companions,  was  obliged  to  spend  the 
winter  in  a  cabin  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  So  it  came 
about  that  the  first  white  resident  of  Chicago  was  a 


392  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

missionary  to  the  heathen.  In  the  spring  he  completed 
the  journey  to  the  Kaskaskia  region.  The  emaciated 
paleface  told  an  assembly  of  two  thousand  people  the 
story  of  Jesus.  He  had  kept  his  word.  At  the  end  of  a 
week  he  started  for  Green  Bay  by  way  of  the  St.  Jo- 
seph River  and  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan. 
He  grew  daily  weaker.  At  last  he  pointed  out  a  bluff 
near  the  river,  since  named  for  him,  as  the  place  of 
his  burial.  There  his  faithful  boatmen  buried  him. 
It  is  not  unfitting  that  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
years  after,  this  pioneer  of  the  great  highways  of  the 
West  should  be  remembered  in  the  name  of  a  railway 
which  has  a  network  of  tracks  over  the  State  of  Mich- 
igan. 

Allouez  made  three  missionary  journeys  to  the  Illi- 
nois country.  But  James  Gravier  was  the  first  per- 
manent missionary  and  did  a  faithful  work  for  eighteen 
years  (1688- 1706).  Up  to  the  middle  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  thirty-one  missionaries  labored  on  the 
field.  By  1721  the  Illinois  were  nearly  all  Christian- 
ized, at  least  nominally.  The  chief  centers  of  evangeli- 
zation were  Peoria,  Kaskaskia  and  Tamaroa.  There 
was  also  a  mission  on  the  St.  Joseph  River  near  the 
portage  to  the  Kankakee.  For  some  time  in  the  first 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  John  B.  Chardon 
was  the  gifted  missionary  there. 

449.  Marquette  entered  Louisiana  in  1673.  Mis- 
sions were  carried  on  there  by  secular  priests  from  the 
seminary  in  Quebec  and  by  Jesuits  between  1698  and 
1714,  and  by  the  Jesuits  again  from  1725  to  1770,  the 
latter  coming  directly  from  France  by  way  of  New 


FRENCH  AMERICA.  393 

Orleans.  Sixteen  missionaries  are  named  in  all,  five 
of  whom  were  killed  by  the  Indians.  The  first  two 
to  go  were  Anthony  Davion  and  Francis  de  Montigny 
who  toiled  there  for  fifteen  years ;  but  there  seem  to 
have  been  no  substantial  results. 

450.  The  French  missions  in  Northern  America,  be- 
ginning in  1610,  continued  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  and  onward.  The  chief  activity  was  within  a 
period  of  about  one  hundred  years  from  1625.  Work 
was  done  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Hudson  Bay,  the  west 
end  of  Lake  Superior  and  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
River.  The  chief  activity  was  within  reach  of  the 
waterway  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence 
River.  More  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  different 
names  are  on  the  roster  as  given  by  Shea,  not  including 
the  central  missions  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  mis- 
sionaries were  Franciscans,  Jesuits,  Sulpicians  and 
secular  clergy,  four-fifths  of  them  being  Jesuits.  In 
co-operation  were  much  of  the  wealth  and  nobility  of 
France,  nearly  always  the  French  government,  and 
commonly  the  traders  and  colonists.  These  last  were 
sometimes  a  severe  trial  to  the  missionaries  and  occa- 
sionally hostile,  but  never  to  the  extent  that  they  were 
in  English  and  Spanish  America.  Many  have  fol- 
lowed Bancroft  in  the  statement  that  the  Jesuits  were 
the  first  to  round  every  headland  and  enter  every  navi- 
gable stream  in  the  West,  but  the  records  show  that 
the  missionaries  in  all  the  regions  were  preceded  by 
the  traders.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  French  people  in 
America  that  they  were  generally  a  tower  of  strength 
to  the  missionaries. 


394  TW0  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

In  results,  a  nomadic  race  which  is  being  dispersed 
and  completely  subordinated,  can  not  show  a  monu- 
mental outcome.  The  missionaries  themselves  had  in 
mind  mainly  life  in  another  world  instead  of  in  this. 
They  believed  that  baptism  would  secure  the  end,  con- 
sequently the  vast  majority  of  all  their  baptisms  were 
of  infants.  The  mission  counted  the  most  successful 
at  the  time,  was  the  one  to  the  Ottawas.  In  1794  Ga- 
briel Richard,  a  Sulpician,  was  sent  to  Detroit  by  the 
Bishop  of  Baltimore,  to  whose  charge  that  field  be- 
longed, with  instructions  to  look  after  the  Indians  as 
well  as  the  colonists.  In  1799  he  visited  Mackinaw, 
Green  Bay,  Sault  Ste.  Marie  and  other  stations  of  the 
old  missions.  He  found  seven  hundred  nominal  Chris- 
tians at  Mackinaw,  but  his  report  to  Bishop  Carroll 
said  that  in  all  these  fields  of  the  old  Ottawa  mission 
there  had  not  been  a  priest  for  thirty  years.  Immor- 
ality, debauchery  and  paganism  prevailed.  Still,  on  the 
wide  field  of  French  missions  in  Northern  America, 
the  lives  of  hundreds  of  men  and  women  were  trans- 
formed from  savagery  and  made  genuine  Christian 
lives,  some  of  them  illustrious  with  grace.  The  mis- 
sionaries carried  on  a  large  amount  of  humane,  educa- 
tional and  social  work.  There  are  in  Canada  to  this 
day  a  number  of  groups  of  Indians  whose  ancestors 
were  Christianized  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago. 

In  ultimate  effect,  probably  the  chief  value  to  the 
world  of  the  French  missions  in  America  is  the  ideal 
of  devotion,  discipline  and  unmeasured  heroism  which 
these  missions  embodied  and  modestly  but  minutely  re- 
corded.   This  ideal  is  dimmed  here  less  than  in  some 


FRENCH  AMERICA.  395 

other  parts  of  the  world  by  that  tendency  to  suicide, 
the  passion  for  martyrdom.  With  only  an  average 
number  of  exceptions,  the  French  missionaries  were 
devoted  servants  of  humanity,  true  men  of  God,  whose 
ideal  was  service  to  others  rather  than  martyrdom  for 
self. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ENGLISH  AMERICA. 

451.  Uncollected  records.  452.  The  original  inten- 
tion. 453.  "First  Fruits."  454.  Roger  Williams  the 
first  missionary.  455.  His  "Key."  456.  What  the  key 
unlocked.  457.  His  long  apostolate.  458.  Dunster 
and  Harvard.  459.  John  Eliot.  460.  The  Mayhews. 
461.  The  Sergeants  and  Jonathan  Edwards.  462.  Con- 
necticut. 463.  New  York.  464.  New  Jersey.  465. 
Pennsylvania.  466.  Ohio.  467.  West  Indies  calling 
out  the  Moravians.        468.  Work  on  the  islands. 

451.  The  English  missions  in  North  America  have 
never  been  fully  reported.  The  scanty  and  scattered 
records  of  the  work  have  never  been  brought  together, 
but  are  still  to  be  searched  for  here  and  there  in  out-of- 
the-way  places.  A  little  effort  in  that  direction  proves 
that  the  search  thoroughly  prosecuted  would  disclose 
work  every  whit  as  noble  in  quality  and  in  results  as 
that  of  the  French,  whose  ample  records  for  the  same 
period  fill  sixty-six  goodly  volumes. 

452.  The  Virginia  Charter  of  1609  and  the  New 
England  Patent  of  1620  contained  precisely  the  same 
words.  "The  principal  effect  which  we  can  desire  or 
expect  of  this  action,  is  the  conversion  and  reduction 
of  the  people  in  those  parts  into  the  true  worship  of 

396 


w 


0 


ENGLISH  AMERICA.  397 

God  and  Christian  religion."  Bradford  gave  among 
the  reasons  for  the  migration  of  the  Pilgrims : 

"Lastly  (and  which  was  not  least),  a  great  hope  &  inward 
zeall  they  had  of  laying  some  good  foundation,  or  at  least 
to  make  some  way  therunto,  for  ye  propagating  &  advancing 
ye  gospell  of  ye  kingdom  of  Christ  in  those  remote  parts  of  ye 
world ;  yea,  though  they  should  be  but  even  as  stepping-stones 
unto  others  for  ye  performing  of  so  great  a  work." 

Winthrop's  proposals  for  a  colony  were  equally  full 
of  the  missionary  purpose.  He  began  by  giving  "The 
grounds  of  settling  a  plantation  in  New  England"  as 

follows : 

"First,  The  ppagacon  of  the  gospell  to  the  Indians.  Wherein 
first  the  importance  of  the  worke  tendinge  to  the  inlargement 
of  the  Kingdome  of  Jesus  Christ  &  winning  them  out  of  the 
snare  of  the  Divell  &  converting  others  of  them  by  their 
meanes." 

The  Charter  of  Massachusetts,  granted  by  Charles  I. 
in  1629,  shows  that  England,  as  truly  as  Spain,  Portu- 
gal and  France,  had  for  a  leading  motive  Christian  mis- 
sions. After  naming  certain  duties  of  the  officers  of  the 
colony,  the  charter  continues : 

"and  for  the  directing,  ruling  and  disposing  of  all  other  mat- 
ters and  things  whereby  our  said  people,  inhabitants  there, 
maie  be  soe  religiously,  peaceablie  and  civilly  governed,  as 
their  good  life  and  orderlie  conversacon  maie  wynn  and  in- 
cite the  natives  of  country  to  the  knowledge  and  obedience  of 
the  onlie  true  God  and  Savior  of  mankind,  and  the  Christian 
fayth,  which,  in  our  roal  intencon  and  the  adventurers  free 
profession,  is  the  principale  ende  of  this  plantacon." 

Similar  sentiments  are  expressed  in  the  charters  of 
other  English  colonies. 

453.  The  very  year  that  the  Massachusetts  Charter 
was  granted  John  Cradock  of  England  called  the  spe- 


398         two  thousand  years  of  missions. 

cial  attention  of  the  colonists  to  this  "principall  ende" 
of  their  chartered  existence.  With  a  single  prominent 
exception  they  had  been  slow  and  scant  in  missionary 
activity.  They  were  stirred  at  last  to  tell  what  little 
they  had  done.  "New  England's  First  Fruits"  (1634), 
is  the  happy  title  of  the  first  printed  announcement  in 
old  England  of  the  missionary  and  educational  work 
of  New  England.  Missions  to  the  heathen  and  a  col- 
lege— happy  and  abiding  combination  !  Thirteen  years 
after  the  first  Pilgrim's  foot  touched  the  wild  shores  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  was  soon,  perhaps,  for  a  college, 
but  it  surely  was  not  too  soon  for  some  first  fruits  from 
the  heathen  to  whom  those  shores  belonged.  The  pity 
is  that  there  was  such  a  meager  sheaf,  after  a  round 
dozen  of  years.  Ten  Indians,  besides  "divers  of  the 
Indian  Children,  Boyes  and  Girles,  we  have  received 
into  our  houses,  who  are  long  since  civilized,  and  in 
subjection  to  us,"  are  described  as  having  shown  some 
inclination  toward  Christianity. 

The  New  England  fathers  were  not  satisfied  to  count 
as  converted  people  who  had  merely  submitted  to  a 
few  Christian  observances.  Their  standards  for  nom- 
inal admission  to  the  Christian  fold  were  much  more 
exacting  than  those  of  the  Spaniards  and  the  French. 
The  best  that  they  have  to  say  about  most  of  the  ten  is 
to  the  same  effect  as  the  report  of  the  first 
one  at  Plymouth :  "He  could  never  be  gotten  from  the 
English,  nor  from  seeking  after  their  God,  but  died 
amongst  them,  leaving  some  good  .hopes  in  their  hearts 
that  his  soul  went  to  rest."  They  speak  with  more 
confidence  of  a  certain  "Blackmore  maid,  that  hath  long 


ENGLISH  AMERICA.  399 

lived  at  Dorchester ' '  and  of  ' '  that  famous  Indian  We- 
quash,  who  "is  dead,  and  certainly  in  heaven;  glori- 
ously did  the  grace  of  God  shine  forth  in  his  conversa- 
tion, a  year  and  a  half  before  his  death  he  knew  Christ, 
he  preached  Christ  up  and  down,  and  then  suffered 
Martyrdom  for  Christ."  It  was  believed  that  he  was 
poisoned  by  the  Indians  because  of  his  faithful  preach- 
ing of  Christ.  The  convincing  proof  of  his  Christianity 
was  that  he  had  become  temperate  in  behavior  and  in 
drink,  also  "putting  away  all  his  wives,  saving  the 
first,  to  whom  he  had  most  right."  Describing  his 
conversion,  they  say  that  "some  English  (well  ac- 
quainted with  his  language)  did  meet  him  and  spent 
more  than  halfe  the  night  in  conversing  with  him." 
The  Boston  writers  did  not  like  to  say  that  it  was  Roger 
Williams  who  was  the  instrument  of  the  only  brilliant 
missionary  success  which  they  could  report.  But  so  it 
appears  from  his  own  statement,  to  be  quoted  later. 
According  to  all  accounts  he  was  at  that  time  the  only 
colonist  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  Indian  lan- 
guage. 

The  authors  of  the  "First  Fruits"  conclude  the  narra- 
tive part  with  the  following  reasonable  observation : 

"Thus  we  have  given  you  a  little  tast  of  the  sprincklings  of 
God's  spirit,  upon  a  few  Indians,  but  one  may  easily  imagine, 
that  here  are  not  all  that  may  be  produced ;  for  if  a  very  few 
of  us  here  present,  upon  very  sudden  thoughts,  have  snatcht 
up  only  such  instances  which  came  at  present  to  hand,  you 
may  conceive,  that  if  all  in  our  Plantations  (which  are  farre 
and  wide)  should  set  themselves  to  bring  in  the  confluence  of 
all  their  Observations  together,  much  more  might  be  added." 

The  mission  work  of  New  England,  like  most  of  that 
in  the  first  Christian  centuries,  was  done  as  an  e&sen- 


400  TWO   THOUSAND  YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

tial  activity  of  the  Christian  life,  and  not  by  people  who 
were  set  apart  exclusively  for  the  missionary  function. 
454.    The  first  man  who  gave  so  much  attention  to 
the  conversion  of  the  native  heathen  that  he  can  be 
called   a   missionary  to  them,   was   Roger  Williams. 
While  assistant  pastor  at  Plymouth  (1631-1632)  he  de- 
voted himself  largely  to  the  Indians.     He  frequently 
lived  with  them  in  their  lodges  and  learned  their  lan- 
guage so  as  to  use  it  freely.     One  of  the  great  causes 
of  the  banishment  of  Williams  from  Massachusetts  was 
his  rigorous  insistence  that  the  King  of  England  had 
no  right  "to  take  and  give  away  the  lands  of  other 
men."     He  cried  aloud  as  to  the  King's  "injustice  in 
giving  the  country  to  his  English  subjects  which  be- 
longed to  the  native  Indians."     When  driven  out  into 
the  wintry  wilderness  he  found  a  welcome  waiting  him 
among  the  natives.     They  sheltered  him  for  more  than 
three  months  and  gladly  sold  him  the  land  for  his  new 
colony. 

New  England's  Prospect,  published  in  London  in 
1634,  says  of  Williams  that  he 

"in  a  special  good  intent  of  doing  good  to  their  (the  In- 
dians') soules,  hath  spent  much  time  in  attaining  to  their 
language,  wherein  he  is  so  good  a  proficient,  that  he  can 
speake  to  their  understanding,  and  they  to  his;  much  loving 
and  respecting  him  for  his  love  and  counsell.  It  is  hoped 
(he  adds)  that  he  may  be  aril  instrument  of  good  amongst 
them." 

This  was  a  dozen  years  before  Eliot  had  learned  to 
preach  to  the  Indians.  The  very  year  that  Williams 
made  his  settlement  at  Providence,  having  been  ban- 
ished from  Massachusetts,  the  authorities  of  the  latter 


P.OGES.  WILLIAMS. 


ENGLISH   AMERICA.  401 

had  to  call  him  in  to  help  them  in  making  a  treaty  with 
the  Indians.  "Because  they  could  not  well  make  them 
understand  the  articles  perfectly,  [they]  agreed  to  send 
a  copy  of  them  to  Mr.  Williams,  who  could  best  inter- 
pret them  to  them."  Sparks  says  that  he  "acquired  an 
influence  over  them  [the  natives]  far  superior  to  that 
of  any  other  person  of  his  time.'' 

For  years  all  the  colonists  had  to  depend  on  Wil- 
liams as  mediator  and  interpreter,  he  being  the  only 
man  in  New  England  who  was  adequately  acquainted 
with  the  Indians  and  with  their  language. 

455.  In  1643  Mr.  Williams  went  to  England  in  the 
interests  of  his  colony,  and  published  there  a  book 
of  224  pages,  being  an  Indian-English  vocabulary,  or 
rather  phrase-book,  and  containing  other  interesting 
matter  about  the  Indians.  Following  is  the  original 
title-page  in  full ; 


A    KEY 

into  the 

L  A   N  G   U  A  G 

°f 

AMERICA: 

or 

An    help    to    the    Language    of   the    Natives    in 

that    part     of    America,     called 

NEW    ENGLAND, 

"together  with  brief e  Obfervations  of  the  Cuftomes,  Manners 
and  Worfhips,    &c.  of  the   aforefaid 


'9 

in   Peace   and  War  re,   in    Life   and  Death. 

On   all  which   are   added  Spiritual!  Obfervations,  General!   and 

Particular   by   the  Autkour,   of  chiefe   and  special!    ufe 

(upon  all  occafions),to  all  the  Englifh  Inhabiting 

thofe  parts  ;  yet  pica f  ant  and  profitable 

to  the  view  of  all  men  : 

By    ROGER     WILLIAMS 

of  Providence  in  New  England. 


LONDON, 
Printed    by     Gregory    Dexter,     1643 

402 


ENGLISH  AMERICA.  4°3 

This  first  document,  published  to  be  used  in  prose- 
cuting missions  to  the  heathen  in  New  England,  begins 
as  follows : 

"To  my  Dcarc  and  Wclbeloved  Friends  and  Countreymen, 
in  old  and  new  England. 

"I  present  you  with  a  Key ;  I  have  not  heard  of  the  like 
yet  framed,  since  it  pleased  God  to  bring  that  mighty  Conti- 
nent of  America  to  light ;  Others  of  my  Countrymen  have 
often,  and  excellently,  and  lately  written  of  the  Countrey  (and 
none  that  I  know  beyond  the  goodnesse  and  worth  of  it). 
This  Key,  respects  the  Native  Language  of  it,  and  happily  may 
unlocke  some  Rarities  concerning  the  Natives  themselves,  not 
yet  discovered. 

"I  drew  the  Materialls  in  a  rude  lumpe  at  Sea,  as  a  private 
helpe  to  my  owne  memory,  that  I  might  not  by  my  present 
absence  lightly  lose  what  I  had  so  dearely  bought  in  some 
few  yeares  hardship,  and  charges  among  the  Barbarians ;  yet 
being  reminded  by  some,  what  pitie  it  were  to  bury  those 
Matreialls  in  my  Grave  at  land  or  Sea;  and  withall,  remem- 
bering how  oft  I  have  been  importun'd  by  worthy  friends,  of 
all  sorts,  to  afford  them  some  helps  this  way. 

"I  resolved  (by  the  assistance  of  the  most  High)  to  cast 
those  Materialls  into  this  Key,  pleasant  and  profitable  for  All, 
but  specially  for  my  friends  residing  in  those  parts : 

"A  little  Key  may  open  a  Box,  where  lies  a  bunch  of  Keyes. 

"With  this  I  have  entered  into  the  secrets  of  those  Countries, 
where  ever  English  dwel  about  two  hundred  miles,  betweene 
the  French  and  Dutch  Plantations;  for  want  of  this,  I  know 
what  grosse  mistakes  my  selfe  and  others  have  run  into. 

"There  is  a  mixture  of  this  Language,  North  and  South 
from  the  place  of  my  abode,  about  six  hundred  miles;  yet 
within  the  two  hundred  miles  (aforementioned)  their  Dia- 
lects doe  exceedingly  differ;  yet  not  so,  but  (within  that 
compasse)  a  man  may,  by  this  helpe,  converse  with  thousands 
of  Natives  all  over  the  Countrey;  and  by  such  converse  it  may 
please  the  Father  of  Mercies  to  spread  civiltie  (and  in  his  own 
most    holj  0    Christianitie;    for   one   Candle   will   light 

ten  thousand,  and  it  may  plea  e  God  to  blesse  a  little  Leaven 


404  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

to  season  the  mightie  Lump  of  those  Peoples  and  Territories. 

"It   is  expected,    that  having  had   so   much   converse  with 
these  Natives,  I  should  write  some  little  of  them. 

"Concerning  them    (a  little  to  gratifie  expectation)    I   shall 
touch  upon  foure  Heads : 

"First,  by  what  Names  they  are  distinguished. 

"Secondly,  Their  Originall  and  Descent. 

"Thirdly,  their  Religion,  Manners,  Customs,  &c. 

"Fourthly,  That  great  Point  of  their  Conversion." 

456.  This  Key  did,  indeed,  "open  a  box  where  lies  a 
bunch  of  keyes."  When  Mr.  Williams  returned  to  Amer- 
ica he  brought  a  letter  to  the  government  of  Massachu- 
setts. This  letter  had  the  signature  of  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  Lord  Wharton  and  other  members  of 
Parliament.  Three  of  the  signers  were  members  of 
the  Commission  for  Plantations.  This  letter  explained 
to  Massachusetts  the  reasons  for  granting  a  charter  to 
the  new  neighboring  colony,  giving  as  one  the  deserts 
of  Williams  on  account  of  his  "great  industry  and  tra- 
vail in  his  printed  Indian  labors.  .  .  .  the 
like  whereof  (had  not  been)  seen  extant  from  any  part 
of  America."  It  was  only  a  few  weeks  after  the  arrival 
of  Williams  in  Massachusetts  with  this  letter  that  the 
interest  of  that  colony  was  sufficiently  aroused  to  take 
action  for  the  first  time  in  the  direction  of  Christian- 
izing the  natives.  The  act  empowers  county  courts  to 
"take  order  from  time  to  time  to  have  them  instructed 
in  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  God."  Out  of  this 
state  action  arose  the  state-paid  work  of  John  Eliot. 

Another  missionary  publication  of  Roger  Williams 
has  been  lost.  At  the  end  of  the  Key  he  says  :  "I  have 
further  treated  of  these  natives  of  New  England,  and 
that  great  point  of  their  Conversion  in  a  little  addi- 
tional! Discourse  apart  from  this." 


ENGLISH  AMERICA.  4°5 

Mr.  Baylie,  an  English  Presbyterian,  published  a 
work  in  1645,  in  which  he  took  the  Congregationalists 
of  New  England  to  task  for  their  neglect  to  evangelize 
the  heathen  around  them.  He  says  that  "only  Master 
Williams  in  the  time  of  his  banishment  from  among 
them  did  essay  what  could  be  done  with  those  desolate 
souls."  In  his  own  letters  Williams  speaks  of  his 
"soul's  desire  to  do  the  natives  good  and  to  that  end  to 
learn  their  language,"  and  says  that  "God  was  pleased 
to  give  me  a  painful,  patient  spirit  to  lodge  with  them 
in  their  filthy,  smoky  holes,  (even  while  I  lived  at 
Plymouth  and  Salem),  to  gain  their  tongue."  Again, 
"out  of  desire  to  attaine  their  language,  I  have  run 
through  varieties  of  intercourses  with  them,  day  and 
night,  summer  and  winter,  by  land  and  sea." 

In  a  letter  to  his  friend,  Governor  John  Winthrop, 
of  Connecticut,  as  early  as  1638,  he  says :  "Good  news 
of  great  hopes  the  Lord  hath  sprung  up,  of  many  a 
poor  Indian  soul  inquiring  after  God.  I  have  con- 
vinced hundreds  at  home  and  abroad  that  in  point  of 
religion  they  are  all  wandering,  &c." 

The  letters  of  Williams,  of  which  over  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  have  been  discovered  and  printed,  are 
laden  with  Indian  affairs. 

457.  The  next  year  after  Williams  had  returned 
from  England  with  the  charter  for  Rhode  Island,  he 
moved  twenty  miles  from  town,  (as  far  as  two  hundred 
miles  would  be  now),  into  the  wilds  of  the  Narraganset 
country,  for  the  purpose  of  mission  work  among  the  na- 
tives, as  his  latest  biographer,  Strauss,  believes.  There 
he  lived  for  six  years,  so  that  many  of  his  letters  are 


406  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

dated  from  that  mission  station,  with  its  unmistakably 
Indian  name,  Cawcawmsquissick. 

The  closing  paragraphs  of  Williams'  introduction  to 
his  "Key"  give  us  a  glimpse  of  his  missionary  labors,  his 
first  convert  and  his  hopes : 

"Many  solemne  discourses  I  have  had  with  all  sorts  of 
Nations  of  them,  from  one  end  of  the  Countrey  to  another  (so 
farre  as  opportunity,  and  the  little  Language  I  have  could 
reach). 

"I  know  there  is  no  small  preparation  in  the  hearts  of  Mul- 
titudes of  them.  I  know  their  many  solemne  Confessions  to 
my  self  and  one  to  another  of  their  lost  wandring  Condi- 
tions. 

"I  know  strong  Convictions  upon  the  Consciences  of  many 
of  them,  and  their  desires  uttred  that  way. 

"I  know  not  with  how  little  Knowledge  and  Grace  of  Christ 
the  Lord  may  save,  and  therefore  neither  will  despaire,  nor 
report  much. 

"But  since  it  hath  'pleased  some  of  my  Worthy  Countrymen 
to  mention  (of  late  in  print)  Wequash,  the  Pequt  Captaine. 
I  shall  be  bold  so  farre  to  second  their  Relations,  as  to  relate 
mine  owne  Hopes  of  Him  (though  I  dare  not  be  so  confident 
as  others.  Two  dayes  before  his  Death,  as  I  past  up  to  Quin- 
nihticut  River,  it  pleased  my  worthy  friend  Mr.  Fenwick 
(whom  I  visited  at  his  house  in  Say-Brook  Fort  at  the  mouth 
of  that  River)  to  tell  me  that  my  old  friend  Wequash  lay  very 
sick;  I  desired  to  see  him,  and  Himselfe  was  pleased  to  be  my 
Guide  two  mile  where  Wequash  lay. 

"Amongst  other  discourse  concerning  his  sicknesse  and 
Death  (in  which  hee  freely  bequeathed  his  son  to  Mr.  Fen- 
wick) I  closed  with  him  concerning  his  Soule :  Flee  told  me 
that  some  two  or  three  years  before  he  had  lodged  at  my 
House,  where  I  .acquainted  him  with  the  Condition  of  all 
Mankind,  &  his  Oivn  in  particular,  how  God  created  Man  and 
All  things;  how  Man  fell  from  God,  and  of  his  present  enmity 
against  God,  and  the  wrath  of  God  against  Him  untill  Repent- 
ance:   said  he  'Your  words  were  never  out  of  my  heart  to 


ENGLISH  AMERICA.  407 

this  present';  and  said  hee  'me  much  pray  to  Jesus  Christ.' 
I  told  him  so  did  many  English,  French  and  Dutch,  who  had 
never  turned  to  God,  nor  loved  Him :  He  replyed  in  broken 
English:  'Me  so  big  naughty  Heart,  me  heart  all  one  stone!' 
Savory  expressions  using  to  breath  from  compunct  and 
broken  Hearts,  and  a  sence  of  inward  hardnesse  and  unbroken- 
nesse.  I  had  many  discourses  with  him  in  his  Life,  but  this 
was  the  summe  of  our  last  parting  untill  our  generall  meeting. 
"Now  because  this  is  the  great  Inquiry  of  all  men  what 
Indians  have  been  converted?  what  have  the  English  done 
in  those  parts?  what  hopes  of  the  Indians  receiving  the 
Knowledge  of  Christ? 

"And  because  to  this  Question,  some  put  an  edge  from  the 
boast  of  the  Jesuits  in  Canada  and  Maryland,  and  especially 
from  the  wonderfull  conversions  made  by  the  Spaniards  and 
Portugalls  in  the  West-Indies,  besides  what  I  have  here  writ- 
ten, as  also,  beside  what  I  have  observed  in  the  Chapter  of 
their  Religion;  I  shall  further  present  you  with  a  briefe 
Additionall  discourse  concerning  this  Great  Point,  being  com- 
fortably perswaded  that  that  Father  of  Spirits,  who  was  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  perswade  Japhet  (the  Gentiles)  to  dwell  in 
the  Tents  of  Shem  (the  Jewes)  will  in  his  holy  season  (I 
hope  approaching)  perswade,  these  Gentiles  of  America  to  par- 
take of  the  mercies  of  Europe,  and  then  shall  bee  fulfilled 
what  is  written  by  the  Prophet  Malachi,  from  the  rising  of 
the  Sunne  in  (Europe)  to  the  going  down  of  the  same  (in 
America)  my  Name  shall  great  among  the  Gentiles.)  So  I 
desire  to  hope  and  pray." 

For  more  than  forty  years  Roger  Williams  con- 
tinued his  apostolic  labors  among  the  Indians,  making 
journeys  to  preach  to  them  when  he  was  an  old  man. 
He  was  not  only  the  first  English  missionary  to  the 
Indians,  but  it  is  also  true  that  he  has  had  few,  if  any, 
successors  showing  a  more  deep  and  abiding  interest 
in  their  general  welfare.  He  was  not  only  the  fore- 
most "apostle  to  the  Indians"  in  New  England,  but  he 


408  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

was  also,  like  Vieira  in  Brazil,  and  Las  Casas  in  the 
West  Indies,  their  champion  and  defender  against 
colonial  aggression. 

458.  The  second  New  Englander  to  take  an  active 
hand  in  the  conversion  and  education  of  the  Indians 
was  Henry  Dunster,  the  first  president  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege. It  was  said  of  him  by  Thomas  Lechford  in  1641 : 
"He  hath  the  platforme  and  way  of  conversion  of  the 
Natives  indifferent  right.  .  .  .  He  will 
make  it  good  that  the  way  to  instruct  the  Indians  must 
be  in  their  owne  language,  not  English,  and  that  their 
language  may  be  perfected."  During  his  presidency  a 
new  charter  was  obtained  for  the  college  in  which  he 
had  the  object  of  the  school  stated  to  be  "the  educa- 
tion of  the  English  and  Indian  youth  of  this  country  in 
knowledge  and  godliness."  Though  strenuously  op- 
posed in  this  policy,  he  was  determined  that  the  college 
should  be  both  a  mission-school  and  a  missionary  train- 
ing-school. But  the  efficient  career  of  Dunster  as 
president  of  Harvard  was  cut  short  by  the  authorities 
at  the  end  of  fourteen  years,  because  he  had  become 
very  pronounced  and  aggressive  in  his  distinctly  Bap- 
tist views. 

459.  Soon  after  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts 
passed  its  act  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among 
the  Indians,  John  Eliot,  pastor  at  Roxbury,  now  a  part 
of  Boston,  began  to  learn  the  language  of  the  natives. 
He  had  come  to  the  colony  in  1631,  the  same  year  in 
which  Roger  Williams  came  and  began  his  work  among 
the  Indians. 

It  was  in    1646  that   Eliot  did  his  first  mission 


ENGLISH  AMERICA.  4O9 

work,  preaching  to  a  band  of  Indians  at  Nonantum. 
Having  begun,  he  carried  the  work  on  with  zeal,  as 
he  was  able  in  addition  to  his  pastorate  of  the  church 
of  English  colonists.  It  was  largely  because  of  the 
interest  excited  in  England  by  Eliot's  work  that  a 
missionary  society  was  organized  and  incorporated  by 
Parliament  in  1649.  "Tne  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  New  England."  This  first  English 
missionary  society  was  organized  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Company  of 
Jesus,  and  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  years  before 
the  society  inspired  by  William  Carey.  Eliot's  mon- 
umental work  was  the  translation  of  the  Bible  (1661- 
1663)  into  Indian.  In  1666  he  published  a  grammar, 
twenty-three  years  after  the  "Key"  by  Williams. 

In  seeking  to  civilize  the  nomads,  Eliot  soon  found 
it  desirable  to  follow  the  example  set  by  the  Jesuits  in 
Paraguay,  and  to  some  extent  in  Canada.  He  gathered 
them  into  Christian  villages.  He  also  took  pains  to 
raise  up  native  workers.  Through  these,  as  well  as 
through  his  own  indefatigable  journeys  and  teachings, 
the  work  was  extended.  His  "Brief  Narrative  of  the 
Progress  of  the  Gospel  amongst  the  Indians  in  New 
England  in  the  year  1670,"  sent  to  the  fostering  society 
in  England,  describes  briefly  nine  "Praying-Towns," 
besides  those  on  Martha's  Vineyard  and  Nantucket.  At 
the  end  of  thirty-eight  years  of  toil  Eliot  had  under 
his  immediate  care  1,100  converts. 

Daniel  Gookin  had  been  Eliot's  principal  English 
helper.  A  native,  Tackawambit,.;  succeeded  Eliot  as 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Natick. 


4IO  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

460.  The  Mayhew  family,  five  successive  genera- 
tions of  them,  did  an  ideal  work  for  the  Indians  of 
Martha's  Vineyard  and  Nantucket  Islands  during  one 
hundred  and  sixty  years  (1646-1806).  Thomas  May- 
hew,  Sr.,  was  proprietor  and  governor  of  Martha's 
Vineyard.  His  son,  Thomas  Mayhew,  Jr.,  was  pastor 
of  the  settlement  church,  and  having  but  a  small  Eng- 
lish congregation,  devoted  himself  largely  to  work  for 
the  natives.  Within  ten  years  an  Indian  church  of 
two  hundred  and  eighty-two  members  was  organized. 
On  his  way  to  England  to  solicit  funds  for  the  mis- 
sion Thomas  Mayhew,  Jr.,  was  lost  at  sea. 

His  father,  Thomas  Mayhew,  Sr.,  at  once  took  up 
the  work  and  learned  the  Indian  language,  though  he 
was  seventy  years  of  age.  "He  spared  himself  no 
pains  in  doing  his  work,  often  walking  twenty  miles 
through  the  woods  in  order  to  preach  to  or  visit  these 
Indians."  By  1670  there  were  three  thousand  adult 
Christians  on  the  island. 

Before  his  death  Thomas  Mayhew,  Sr.,  had  asso- 
ciated with  himself  in  his  mission  work  his  grandson, 
John  Mayhew,  (son  of  Thomas  Mayhew,  Jr.).  He 
had  entire  charge  of  the  work  for  eight  years. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Experience  Mayhew. 
This  great  grandson  of  Governor  Mayhew  was  in  the 
work  more  than  thirty  years.  He  prepared  for  the 
Indian  Christians  a  new  version  of  the  Psalms  and  of 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John. 

In  "A  Brief  Account  of  the  State  of  the  Indians  on 
Martha's  Vineyard  from  1649  to  I72o,"  he  says  that 
at  the  latter  date  there  were  left  800  Indians  out  of  the 


ENGLISH  AMERICA.  411 

original  1,500  found  on  the  island  in  1642.  These  800 
were  in  six  villages,  each  one  provided  with  an  Indian 
pastor.  He  sums  up  their  state  of  evangelization  as 
follows : 

"Tho'  there  are  many  Indians  on  these  Islands,  who  are 
very  negligent  as  to  their  Attendance  on  the  Publick  Worship 
of  God ;  yet  I  know  of  none,  but  what  do  make  some  Profes- 
sion of  Religion,  and  will  talk  soberly,  when  treated  withal 
about  it;  having  made  a  trial  on  some  that  have  been  most 
suspected.  And  tho'  there  are  among  these  Indians  a  great 
many  who  are  very  defective  in  their  Morals;  yet  there  are 
a  considerable  number,  even  of  those  not  yet  joined  in  Church 
Communion,  who  live  soberly,  and  Worship  God  in  their 
Families." 

He  also  published  a  book  of  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five pages  entitled  "Indian  Converts,"  giving  a 
sketch  of  the  lives  of  thirty  Indian  preachers,  and  of 
ninety-eight  other  notable  converts,  of  whom  thirty- 
nine  were  women. 

This  matchless  line  of  missionaries  was  continued  by 
Zechariah  Mayhew,  son  of  Experience,  who  faithfully 
carried  the  work  for  the  Indians  on  into  the  nine- 
teenth century. 

Associated  with  the  Mayhews  in  mission  work  for 
the  Indians  was  Peter  Foulger,  grandfather  of  Ben- 
jamin Franklin.  Being  an  ardent  Baptist,  Foulger 
introduced  his  distinctive  views  among  the  Indians. 
By  1694  a  Baptist  church  was  in  existence  on  Martha's 
Vineyard  and  another  on  Nantucket. 

One  of  the  Mayhews  said  of  John  Tackamason,  an 
Indian  Baptist  pastor:  "I  had  frequent  conversation 
with  him  while  he  was  in  health  and  sometimes  .  .  . 
in  the  time  of  that  long  sickness  whereof  he  died ;  and 


4-12  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

never,  from  first  to  last,  saw  anything  by  him  that  made 
me  any  ways  suspect  the  integrity  of  his  heart,  but  did 
ever  think  him  to  be  a  godly  and  discreet  man." 

Before  the  year  1700,  according  to  the  careful  esti- 
mate of  Dr.  W.  D.  Love,  there  were  7,000  Christian 
Indians  in  New  England.  There  were  not  that  many 
admitted  as  communicants  under  the  Puritanic  stand- 
ard ;  but  that  many  were  as  fully  Christianized  as  those 
called  Christian  Indians  under  a  different  standard  in, 
for  instance,  Canada  or  Brazil.  The  work  was  car- 
ried further  throughout  the  eighteenth  century. 

461.  In  western  Massachusetts  among  the  Berkshire 
Hills,  lived  the  Housatonic  (Over-the-Mountain)  In- 
dians. They  were  led  by  ministers  in  the  western 
part  of  the  state,  under  the  patronage  of  the  governor, 
to  ask  for  a  missionary.  John  Sergeant,,  a  tutor  in 
Yale,  was  appointed  in  1734.  The  scattered  Indians 
were  drawn  together  in  a  township,  Stockbridge,  and 
carefully  evangelized  and  educated.  This  work  de- 
veloped one  of  the  usual  blessings  of  missions  and 
education.  It  rose  above  denominational  lines.  It 
was  in  the  hands  of  Presbyterians  and  Congregation- 
alists,  but  Thomas  Hollis,  the  London  Baptist  philan- 
thropist and  the  largest  early  benefactor  of  Harvard 
College,  pledged  the  support  of  twelve  scholars  in  Mr. 
Sergeant's  school.  When  the  missionary  died,  at  the 
end  of  fifteen  years  of  service,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  Indians,  old  and  young,  had  been  baptized.  There 
were  forty-two  communicants. 

Two  years   later    ( 1 75 1 )  Jonathan    Edwards  was 
called  to  take  up  this  work,  in  conjunction  with  the 


ENGLISH   AMERICA.  413 

pastorate  of  the  church  of  white  people  in  the  same 
town.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  one  of  the  greatest 
intellects  that  this  continent  or  any  other  continent 
has  produced,  became  a  missionary  to  the  Indians. 
He  continued  in  the  work  for  six  years,  until  called  to 
the  presidency  of  Princeton.  It  hardly  seems  possible 
that  he  could  have  given  much  labor  to  the  Indians,  for 
it  was  during  this  time  that  the  masterpieces  of  his 
writing  were  produced.  It  is  clear,  however,  that 
he  had  the  missionary  work  at  heart.  His  son,  Jona- 
than, describes  the  situation  in  this  way  : 

"When  I  was  but  six  years  of  age  my  father  removed  with 
his  family  to  Stockbridge,  which,  at  that  time,  was  inhabited 
by  Indians  almost  solely,  as  there  were  in  the  town  but  twelve 
families  of  whites,  or  Anglo-Americans,  and  perhaps  one 
hundred  and  fifty  families  of  Indians.  The  Indians  being  the 
nearest  neighbors,  I  constantly  associated  with  them ;  their 
boys  were  my  daily  schoolmates  and  play-fellows.  Out  of  my 
father's  house  I  seldom  heard  any  language  spoken  but  the 
Indian.  By  these  means  I  acquired  the  knowledge  of  that 
language,  and  a  great  facility  in  speaking  it.  It  became  more 
familiar  to  me  than  my  mother-tongue." 

The  father's  highest  ambition  for  this  boy  was  that 
he  should  devote  his  life  to  the  Indians.  He  sent  the 
lad  when  but  ten  years  of  age  with  the  Missionary 
Gideon  Hawley  into  the  wilds  of  the  west  to  learn  the 
language  of  the  Oneidas. 

In  1775  John  Sergeant,  Jr.,  took  up  the  work  which 
his  father  had  begun  and  Edwards  had  carried  on.  He 
continued  in  the  work  at  Stockbridge  and  at  New 
Stockbridge,  in  New  York,  whither  the  Indians  mi- 
grated, for  forty-nine  years. 

462.  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts  work  extended 


414  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

into  Connecticut.  Experience  Mayhew  made  more 
than  one  missionary  tour  in  that  colony,  and  his  inter- 
preter was  a  grandson  of  Wequash,  whom  Roger  Wil- 
liams had  brought  to  Christ.  Captain  John  Mason 
was  employed  by  the  "Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel"  to  open  a  school  for  the  Indians,  which  he 
conducted  near  New  London  for  seven  years  (1727- 
1734).  Workers  from  Natick  visited  the  field.  In 
1733  Jonathan  Barber,  of  Springfield,  was  appointed 
missionary.  The  "Great  Awakening"  of  religion  under 
Whitfield,  and  his  specific  suggestions,  aroused  the 
colonists  to  a  new  sense  of  their  obligation  to  the 
aborigines. 

The  most  marked  mission  work  in  Connecticut  was 
in  connection  with  the  "Indian  Charity  School"  in 
Lebanon.  Eleazer  Wheelock  was  appealed  to  by  a 
poor  Indian  widow  to  take  her  son  into  his  private 
school.  He  generously  responded.  This  was  in  1743. 
Others  followed.  The  result  was  a  genuine  mission- 
ary training-school,  which  continued  at  Lebanon  for 
twenty-seven  years,  when  Dr.  Wheelock  removed  it 
to  Hanover,  N.  H.,  where  it  developed  into  Dartmouth 
College.  Twenty-one  Indians  from  New  England, 
thirty-two  from  New  York,  and  seven  from  New  Jer- 
sey and  Pennsylvania  attended  at  Lebanon.  De- 
voted young  colonists  also  were  trained  there  for  mis- 
sions. 

Wheelock's  first  Indian  pupil,  Samson  Occom,  be- 
came the  most  gifted  native  missionary  that  the  eight- 
eenth century  produced.  He  was  worthy  of  the  elab- 
orate biography  which  has  recently  been  written  by  Dr. 


ENGLISH   AMERICA.  4.1. 


W.  D.  Love.  Occom  went  to  England  in  behalf  of 
the  missions  to  his  countrymen,  speaking  with  great 
acceptance  throughout  Great  Britain.  He  secured 
there  nearly  $50,000  for  the  work. 

463.  Occom  labored  among  the  Indians  in  southern 
New  England  and  finally  was  instrumental  in  combin- 
ing seven  settlements  of  Christian  Indians  in  a  migra- 
tion to  the  Oneida  country,  New  York,  about  1776. 
He  continued  with  them  till  his  death,  which  occurred 
the  same  year  in  which  Carey's  missionary  society  was 
organized  in  England. 

The  happy  name  Brotherton  was  chosen  for  the  new 
settlement.  Not  far  away  was  New  Stockbridge,  to 
which  we  have  seen  that  John  Sergeant  came  with 
Stockbridge  Indians  some  ten  years  later. 

About  ten  years  earlier  one  of  the  white  pupils  of  the 
Lebanon  training-school,  Samuel  Kirkland,  had,  in  the 
same  region,  become  an  eminent  missionary  to  the 
Oneidas  themselves  and  to  the  people  of  the  other  Five 
Nations.  In  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
long  afterward,  Mr.  Kirkland  was  very  useful  to  both 
the  Iroquois  and  the  Government  as  a  mediator. 

In  earlier  days,  beginning  in  1641,  excellent  work 
had  been  done  among  the  Indians  in  this  region  by 
loannes  Megapolenses,  of  Albany.  He  learned  to  use 
the  Mohawk  language  freely  and  received  a  number 
of  Indians  into  his  church.  This  staunch  Dutch  Prot- 
estant greatly  befriended  Isaac  Jaques,  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary. In  Schenectady  earnest  work  was  done  and 
thirty-six  Mohawks  were  church  members  by  1700. 

Henry  Barclay  and  other  Church  of  England  mis- 


4l6  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

sionaries  did  successful  work,  having  two  Christian 
villages  with  five  hundred  inhabitants,  thirty  miles 
from  Albany.  In  1741  there  were  fifty-eight  Indian 
communicants.  Two  years  later  only  two  or  three 
people  in  the  mission  remained  unbaptized. 

The  Moravians  had  a  phenomenal  work  in  Dutchess 
County,  New  York,  between  1740  and  1744.  Chris- 
tian Henry  Rauch  followed  two  besotted  headmen, 
Tschoop  and  Shabosh,  to  their  huts.  Tschoop  became 
a  most  earnest  Christian  worker.  In  1743  sixty-nine 
had  been  baptized  at  one  place,  and  one  hundred  and 
twenty  at  another.  The  rum  traffic  and  other  wicked 
relations  of  the  white  men  with  the  red  men  were  so 
interrupted  that  the  colonial  authorities  were  induced 
to  expel  the  missionaries.  Most  of  the  converts  went 
with  them  to  Pennsylvania. 

On  Long  Island  Azariah  Horton  did  some  work 
among  the  Shinnecock  Indians.  James  Davenport,  fol- 
lowed by  Horton,  preached  occasionally  to  the  Mon- 
tauks  on  the  eastern  end  of  the  island.  It  was  here 
that,  connected  with  the  end  of  Horton's  mission,  Sam- 
son Occom  began  his  work,  in  1749,  as  a  school-teacher 
and  evangelist.  He  was  soon  ordained.  For  twelve 
years  he  did  here  effective,  uplifting  missionary  work. 
464.  David  Brainerd  began  his  work  among  the 
Indians  on  the  Hudson  River,  sixteen  miles  from 
Stockbridge.  But  his  chief  labors  were  in  New  Jer- 
sey, with  missionary  tours  in  Pennsylvania.  His 
greatest  service  was  in  promoting  the  slowly  rising 
tide  of  interest  for  missions.  The  journals  of  Brain- 
erd were  published  in  part  by  the  Scottish  "Society  for 


ENGLISH   AMERICA.  417 

Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,"  of  which  he  was 
missionary.  The  remainder  had  the  advantage  of  be- 
ing issued  under  the  great  name  of  Edwards  as  editor. 
They  were  in  themselves  highly  gratifying  to  the  cur- 
rent taste  in  religion.  Though  laden  with  morbid  in- 
trospection, they  were  also  fragrant  with  practical  de- 
votion to  the  redemption  of  those  who  sat  in  darkness. 

"I  spent  the  evening  praying  incessantly  for  divine  as- 
sistance and  that  I  might  not  be  self-dependent,  but  still  have 
my  whole  dependence  on  God.  What  I  passed  through  was 
remarkable  and,  indeed,  inexpressible.  All  things  here  below 
vanished;  and  there  appeared  to  be  nothing  of  any  consider- 
able importance  to  me  but  holiness  of  heart  and  life  and  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen  to  God." 

At  a  time  when  his  food  consisted  "mostly  of  hasty- 
pudding,  boiled  corn  and  bread  baked  in  the  ashes  and 
sometimes  a  little  meat  and  butter,"  and  when  his 
lodging  was  "a  little  heap  of  straw,  laid  upon  some 
boards  a  little  way  from  the  ground,  for  it  is  a  log  room 
without  any  floor,"  he  adds,  "and  yet  my  spiritual  con- 
flicts and  distresses  so  far  exceed  all  these  (and  many 
other  uncomfortable  circumstances)  that  I  scarce  think 
of  them  or  hardly  observe  that  I  am  not  entertained 
in  the  most  sumptuous  manner."  Brainerd  died  at 
twenty-nine  years  of  age,  after  only  four  years  of  mis- 
sionary service  and  having  baptized  scarcely  two-score 
converts.  But  his  spirit  fired  Carey's  heart,  and  "read- 
ing the  life  of  Brainerd  decided  Henry  Martyn  to  be- 
come a  missionary." 

After  the  death  of  David  Brainerd,  his  brother  John 
Brainerd  carried  on  the  work  at  intervals  throughout 
his  life,  till  1781. 


418  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

465.  The  colony  of  Pennsylvania,  like  that  of  Rhode 
Island  forty-five  years  before,  was  established  in  the 
true  Christian  temper  toward  the  natives.  In  1682 
William  Penn  and  other  Friends  went  entirely  un- 
armed to  hold  a  treaty  council  with  a  large  body  of 
Indian  warriors  and  chiefs  under  the  elm  tree  at 
Shackmaxon.     This  is  the  report  of  Penn's  speech : 

"The  great  Spirit,  said  he,  who  made  you  and  me,  who 
rules  in  heaven  and  earth,  who  knows  the  innermost  thoughts 
of  man ;  knows  that  I  and  my  friends  have  a  hearty  desire  to 
live  in  peace  and  friendship  with  the  Indians,  and  to  serve 
them  to  the  utmost  of  our  power.  It  is  not  the  custom  of 
me  and  my  friends  to  use  weapons  of  war  against  our  fellow- 
creatures,  and  for  this  reason  we  have  come  to  you  without 
arms.  Our  desire  is  not  to  do  injury  and  thus  provoke  the 
great  Spirit,  but  to  do  good.  We  are  now  met  on  the  broad 
pathway  of  good  faith  and  good  will,  and  no  advantage  will 
be  taken  on  either  side,  but  all  is  to  be  openness,  brotherhood 
and  love." 

On  this  basis  a  treaty  was  concluded  in  which  the 
Indians  promised  that  "they  would  live  in  love  and 
peace  with  Onas  and  his  children  so  long  as  the  sun 
and  moon  shall  endure."  They  kept  their  word. 
There  were  no  wars  with  the  colony  so  long  as  the 
Friends  held  the  reins  of  government.  Even  after- 
wards, through  all  the  times  of  bloodshed,  the  Indians 
never  took  the  life  of  a  Friend. 

At  a  Quarterly  Meeting  before  long  the  Friends 
appointed  a  number  of  people  "to  instruct  the  natives  in 
the  principles  of  Christianity  and  the  practice  of  a 
true  Christian  life."  The  Friends  carried  out  the 
meaning  of  their  beautiful  name.  They  were  always  the 
practical,  efficient  friends  of  the  Indians.     They  con- 


NIKOLAUS  LUDWIG. 
COUNT  VON  ZINZENDORF  UND  POTTENDORF. 


ENGLISH    AMERICA.  419 

tributed  large  sums  of  money  for  the  industrial  and 
social  betterment  of  the  natives,  and  broke  to  them  the 
bread  of  life.  Their  missions  were  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian type.  It  was  not  till  near  the  end  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  that  they  adopted  the  more  formal  mis- 
sionary methods. 

The  Presbyterian  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia appointed  George  Duffield  and  Charles  Beatty  to 
look  into  the  question  of  missions  to  the  Indians.  The 
latter  published  in  1768  a  "Journal  of  a  Two  Months' 
Tour,  With  a  View  of  Promoting  Religion  Among  the 
Frontier  Inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania  and  of  Introduc- 
ing Christianity  Among  the  Indians  to  the  Westward 
of  the  Alegh-geny  Mountains."  But  no  permanent 
work  resulted  before  1800. 

The  Moravians  were  the  most  active  missionaries 
in  Pennsylvania  in  our  period.  Count  Zinzendorf  came 
to  America  in  1741  and  remained  a  little  more  than  a 
year.  He  made  three  extensive  missionary  journeys, 
one  in  New  York  and  two  in  Pennsylvania,  not  only 
prospecting  for  permanent  work  but  also  preaching 
through  interpreters.  His  daughter,  Countess  Benig- 
na,  was  with  him  part  of  the  time.  He  kept  his  high 
rank  in  the  background  as  much  as  possible,  because 
with  both  white  and  red  men,  it  distracted  attention 
from  his  simple  gospel  message.  He  arranged  fields 
and  selected  twenty  missionaries  to  go  to  work  at  once, 
planning  for  as  many  more  to  begin  soon.  The  work 
was  carried  forward  vigorously  by  the  ablest  men  in 
the  Moravian  body.  Peter  Boehler,  who  had  studied  at 
the  Universities  of  Jena  and  Leipsic,  and  who  had  been 


420  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

the  instrument  in  London  of  leading  John  Wesley  into 
the  new  religious  life,  crossed  the  Atlantic  seven  times 
in  the  interests  of  the  Moravian  work  in  America. 
Others  besides  Zinzendorf  and  Boehler  were  university 
men.  Cammerhoff  and  Baron  John  von  Watville 
were  graduates  of  Jena,  and  Spangenberg  had  been  a 
professor  at  Halle. 

Three  stations  were  opened  in  what  is  now  Carbon 
County,  two  in  Monroe,  one  in  Lehigh,  three  in  Brad- 
ford, two  in  Venango,  and  one  in  Lawrence.  Thus  the 
work  stretched  clear  to  the  western  limits  of  the  state. 
John  Heckwelder  cheerfully  sang  German  mission- 
ary hymns  amid  uncounted  perils  of  the  wilderness. 

466.  The  chief  apostle  of  the  Indians  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Ohio  was  David  Zeisberger.  Six  stations 
were  opened  in  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio,  two  in  Co- 
shocton, one  in  Cuyahoga,  one  in  Erie,  and  one  in  Wy- 
andot. In  Macomb  County,  Michigan,  there  was  anoth- 
er and  there  were  three  in  Canada  West.  The  twenty- 
seven  stations  just  enumerated  were  all  opened  during 
the  missionary  activity  of  Zeisberger  (1745-1808).  In 
those  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains  he  was  the  chief 
factor.  The  lives  of  hundreds  of  savages,  including  a 
number  of  most  wicked  tribal  headmen,  where  utterly 
transformed.  For  length  of  service,  for  purity  and 
singleness  of  aim  and  for  actual  effectiveness  no  other 
missionary  career  in  North  America  approaches  that 
of  David  Zeisberger. 

The  worst  perils  of  the  Moravian  missionaries  were 
not  from  wild  beasts  and  wild  Indians,  but  from  de- 
graded colonists,    In  1782  an  expedition  of  160  armed 


ENGLISH   AMERICA.  421 

Americans  under  Colonel  Williamson,  fitted  out  at 
Pittsburg,  proceeded  to  Gnadenhiitten,  a  Moravian 
Indian  settlement  in  Ohio.  They  took  these  ever 
peaceable  Christian  Indians  by  surprise  as  they  were 
gathering  their  harvest  of  corn,  but  assured  them  that 
they  had  come  as  friends  to  protect  them  against  hos- 
tilities. The  Indians  entertained  them  with  cordiality 
and  perfect  trust.  The  black-hearted  whites,  after 
much  pleasant  and  even  pious  talk  with  the  Indians, 
imprisoned  them  and  on  the  following  day  deliberately 
took  them  one  by  one,  men,  women  and  children,  and 
in  cold  blood,  slaughtered  them  with  the  tomahawk 
and  stripped  off  their  scalps.  Out  of  ninety-six  In- 
dians but  two  succeeded  in  escaping.  For  cold- 
blooded, unreasoning  brutality,  this  deed  is  not  matched 
by  the  Spaniards  in  South  America,  the  Dutch  in  South 
Africa,  or  even  the  Iroquois  in  the  land  of  the  Hurons. 
The  Moravian  missions  never  fully  recovered  from 
this  blow  struck  by  white  men. 

467.  To  complete  our  survey  of  missions  in  Amer- 
ica we  must  return  to  the  region  in  which  we  began, 
the  West  Indies.  The  work  of  the  Moravians  there 
was  in  Danish  and  English  territory  and  much  more 
akin  to  that  of  English  America,  considered  in  the 
present  chapter,  than  to  the  work  considered  in  the 
chapter  on  Spanish  America. 

As  we  have  gone  from  one  continent  to  another  and 
from  the  equator  to  the  poles,  we  have  found  the 
Moravians  as  active  missionaries  again  and  again  in 
the  last  century  of  our  two  millenniums.  Their  work 
in  the  West  Indies  takes  us  back  to  the  very  beginning 
of  their  missionary  enterprise, 


422  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Count  Zinzendorf,  the  early  patron,  intimate  spirit- 
ual brother  and  adopted  leader  of  the  Moravians,  had 
himself  drunk  at  the  same  fountain  of  piety  in  Halle 
where  the  early  Danish  missionary  spirit  was  imbibed. 
August  Francke,  the  great  teacher  there,  was,  perhaps, 
more  than  any  other  one  man  the  forefather  of  modern 
missions.  Zinzendorf  entered  into  a  covenant  with  a 
schoolmate,  Baron  Frederick  de  Watteville,  to  estab- 
lish missions  for  the  heathen,  especially  for  the  most 
neglected.  Without  thought  of  its  having  any  connec- 
tion with  his  missionary  purpose,  he  invited  some  re- 
ligious refugees  from  persecution  in  Bohemia  to  settle 
on  his  estate,  in  1722.  The  next  year  he  formed  a 
missionary  society  with  De  Watteville  and  others  and 
sought  to  forward  its  objects,  but  all  to  no  avail.  Mean- 
time, the  colony  on  his  estate,  which  had  named  itself 
Herrnh'ut  (the  Watch  of  the  Lord)  grew  and  needed 
his  attention.  He  became  convinced  that  he  ought  to 
cast  in  his  lot  more  completely  with  them.  Visiting 
Copenhagen  to  attend  the  coronation  of  a  new  king  of 
Denmark,  he  heard  the  story  of  Anthony,  a  Negro  from 
St.  Thomas,  West  Indies,  as  to  the  degraded  condi- 
tion of  the  slaves  there.  On  reaching  home  Zinzen- 
dorf related  the  facts  to  the  Brethren.  Anthony  him- 
self arrived  at  Herrnh'ut  soon  after.  Out  of  this  sprang 
the  first  Moravian  mission  in  1732,  ten  years  after  the 
establishment  of  the  church-colony,  while  it  still  num- 
bered fewer  than  400  members. 

468.  Loehnard  Dober  and  Tobias  Leupold  were  two 
of  the  Brethren  whose  hearts  were  most  deeply  stirred 
with  a  desire  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  West  Indies. 


JOHN  LOEHNARD  DOBER. 


ENGLISH    AMERICA.  423 

These  humble  men,  a  carpenter  and  a  potter,  did  not 
speak  of  their  desire  at  first.  One  day  they  are  dig- 
ging together  in  the  earth.  One  ventures  to  hint  at 
his  wish.  The  other  quickly  responds.  See  them  drop- 
ping their  tools  for  a  minute  and  kneeling  in  prayer. 
They  petitioned  the  church  to  let  them  go.  It  took 
the  cautious  elders  a  year  to  consider  this  proposal, 
before  they  could  consent  to  such  a  momentous  experi- 
ment. When  consent  was  given,  Leupold  could  not  go. 
David  Nitschmann  took  his  place.  The  two  young 
men  started,  with  blessings  on  their  heads  and  about 
three  dollars  each  in  their  pockets.  Their  baggage 
was  in  bundles  on  their  backs.  They  walked  to  their 
port  of  departure,  Copenhagen,  600  miles  away.  In 
spite  of  many  obstructions  they  at  last  secured  passage 
to  St.  Thomas,  having  berth  room  so  small  that  they 
could  not  sit  up  straight,  to  say  nothing  of  standing. 
But  all  this  was  nothing;  they  were  ready  to  be  sold 
into  slavery,  if  need  be,  in  order  to  reach  slaves.  Ex- 
actly that  did  not  take  place.  But  many  of  the  planters 
despised  and  hated  them,  because  they  came  to  en- 
lighten slaves.  Before  many  years,  however,  one  of 
the  proprietors  said  in  the  English  House  of  Commons 
that  Moravian  slaves  were  bringing  a  higher  price 
than  others  in  the  market  because  they  were  so  much 
more  efficient.  Forty,  then  ninety,  were  baptized. 
Hundreds  followed. 

In  1733  work  was  begun  on  the  Island  of  St.  Croix. 
One  of  the  converts  there,  Cornelius,  purchased  his 
own  freedom  and  became  an  effective  missionary  helper 
for  forty-seven  years.     The  only  other  Danish  island 


424  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

was  St.  Jan,  near  St.  Thomas.     Work  was  begun  there 
in  1741. 

In  the  early  days  at  St.  Thomas,  Nitschmann  having 
returned  to  Europe,  Dober  was  employed  as  watchman 
on  a  plantation,  for  he  had  to  earn  his  living  as  best  he 
could.  He  must  have  been  sometimes  extremely  lonely 
and  have  wondered  if  he  was  forgotten  at  home.  One 
night,  near  midnight,  he  beheld  two  men  stalking  out 
of  the  darkness  into  the  circle  of  his  watch-fire.  They 
proved  to  be  reinforcements  from  Herrnh'ut.  The 
work  went  on  until  practically  the  entire  Negro  popu- 
lation of  the  Danish  West  Indies  was  Christianized. 

In  the  Island  of  St.  Kitts,  100  miles  east  of  St. 
Croix,  a  mission  was  begun  in  1777.  By  the  end 
of  the  century  there  were  2,500  converts. 

Sixty  miles  farther  east  lies  Antigua.  The  work 
there  started  in  1756.  With  severe  toil  the  mission- 
aries earned  their  bread.  Peter  Brown,  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, labored  there  with  great  efficiency  for  20  years 
(1769-89).  When  he  arrived  14  people  were  counted 
Christians;  when  he  left,  7,400.  In  his  last  year 
before  he  broke  down  with  toil  640  were  baptized. 

Three  hundred  miles  southward  is  the  Island  of 
Barbados  and  150  miles  further  Tobago.  Work  was 
begun  in  the  former  in  1767  and  in  the  latter  by 
John  Montgomery,  father  of  the  poet,  James  Mont- 
gomery, in  1787. 

While  we  are  so  near  the  coast  of  South  America 
we  must  notice  that  there  were  missions  in  Surinam 
from  1735.  Solomon  Schumann  came  to  be  called  the 
"Apostle  of  the  Arrawak  Indians,"  so  many  of  them 


ENGLISH    AMERICA.  425 

were  led  by  him  and  his  co-workers  to  trust  in  Christ. 
Other  races  also  in  Surinam  were  evangelized. 

From  St.  Thomas,  our  Moravian  starting-point  in 
the  West  Indies,  sailing  600  miles  westward  we  come 
to  Jamaica.  The  Brethren  were  invited  here  in  1754 
by  planters,  some  of  whom  had  joined  the  Moravians 
in  England.  But  with  outward  prosperity  the  spirit- 
ual work  was  less  effective  than  in  other  islands  during 
our  period.  Later,  thousands  were  converted  till  there 
were  nearly  twice  as  many  converts  there  as  in  any 
other  island. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

CONTINUITIES  IN  MISSIONS. 

469.  The  law  of  continuity.  470.  Racial  continuity 
in  missions.  471.  Intellectual  continuity  in  missions. 
472.  Scriptural  continuity.  473.  This  principle  held 
good  among  Roman  Catholics.  474.  Importance  of 
other  early  missionary  writings.  475.  The  permanent 
significance  of  a  single  word.  476.  Social  continu- 
ity. 477.  Organic  continuity.  478.  Continuity  un- 
broken by  sectarianism.  479.  The  deepest  line  of  spirit- 
ual continuity. 

469.  The  missions  of  the  two  thousand  years  before 
the  time  of  William  Carey  were  scattered  over  the 
world  from  Spain  to  Japan  and  from  Iceland  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  from  Nova  Scotia  to  California 
and  from  Hudson  Bay  to  Cape  Horn.  They  were 
conducted  by  the  most  widely  divergent  sects  of  the 
children  of  God.  But  nothing  in  either  the  physical 
or  the  spiritual  realm  is  entirely  isolated.  There  are 
always  lines  of  continuity  which  give  coherence  to 
the  whole  and  show  the  process  of  development.  To 
discover  the  plan  of  development  is  to  think  God's 
thoughts  after  Him.  Men  in  the  present  age  are  do- 
ing this  more  than  it  ever  has  been  done  before,  though 
some  of  them  are  unaware  that  the  mind  whose 
426 


CONTINUITIES  IN    MISSIONS.  427 

thoughts  they  are  tracing  is  the  mind  of  God.  Annals 
are  no  longer  counted  history.  True  history  is  a  rec- 
ord of  divine  evolution. 

Concerning  a  field  so  extended  and  so  diversified 
as  the  one  before  us  it  will  be  possible  in  the  space  at 
command  only  to  note  some  general  outlines  of  order. 
We  may  be  sure  that  if  the  records  had  been  made 
and  if  sufficient  attention  could  be  given  them  not 
one  of  the  two  thousand  years  would  be  found  devoid 
of  true  missionary  effort  and  not  one  of  the  efforts 
could  be  fully  appreciated  except  as  connected  with 
every  other  one. 

470.  The  basis  of  all  human  continuity  is  racial. 
The  Aryan  race  has  been  the  missionary  race,  though 
only  after  Semitic  initiation.  When  the  dispersed  Jews 
had  produced  such  men  as  Philo  and  Paul  and,  under 
the  inspiration  of  Jesus,  had  set  religious  propaga- 
tion afoot  in  the  world,  the  sons  of  Japheth  took  up 
the  work  and  have  carried  it  ever  since.  Christianity 
came  early  and  repeatedly  in  contact  with  the  Mon- 
golian race,  winning  great  numbers.  But  it  never 
became  self-propagative  or  even  self-perpetuating 
among  them.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Negro  race. 
Three  hundred  years  before  the  time  of  William  Carey 
the  Indian  race  of  America  began  to  be  infused  with 
Christianity.  Thousands  were  soon  enrolled  and  many 
a  whole  tribe  was  counted  as  Christianized.  But  they 
never  did  much  for  the  tribes  beyond  except  under 
Aryan  leadership.  We  must  look,  then,  for  all  phases 
of  missionary  continuity  to  one  or  another  of  the 
branches  of  the  Aryan  stock. 


428  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

471.  The  strictly  intellectual  continuity  from  first 
to  last  has  been  largely  Hellenic.  It  was  the  transla- 
tion of  Hebrew  thought  into  Greek  which  marked  the 
beginning  of  the  propagation  of  the  true  religion  on 
a  large  scale.  It  was  the  Hellenistic  Jews,  both  pre- 
Christian  and  Christian,  who  were  the  first  missiona- 
ries. The  New  Testament  being  written  in  the  Greek 
language,  by  that  alone  to  a  considerable  extent  was 
a  rendering  of  Hebrew  ideals  into  Greek  forms.  The 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  was  a  most  distinct  attempt 
at  this  made  by  one  of  the  Alexandrian  school  of  Jews, 
Hellenist  of  the  Hellenists.  The  man  who  wrote  more 
of  the  New  Testament  than  any  other  one  was  himself 
a  Greek.  The  one  who  wrote  the  next  largest  portion 
was  a  Hellenist  Jew  and  directed  most  of  his  writing  to 
churches  composed  of  Greeks  and  Hellenists.  The  apos- 
tle who  wrote  the  third  largest  portion  spent  the  last 
thirty  years  of  his  life  around  the  eastern  shores  of  the 
^Bgean  Sea,  a  region  which  was  simply  a  larger  Hel- 
las, almost  as  completely  Greek  as  Greece  herself. 
The  prologue  of  his  Gospel  is  as  distinctly  a  render- 
ing of  Hebrew  conception  into  terms  of  Greek  phi- 
losophy as  were  the  works  of  Philo  himself.  The 
mental  mould  which  received  and  reproduced  Chris- 
tianity was  Greek.  The  great  ecumenical  councils  and 
the  battles  royal  of  early  Christian  philosophy  were 
all  Greek.  Even  in  Rome  for  a  long  time  the  church 
was  a  Greek  church  and  the  Christian  writings  there 
were  Greek.  Whatever  language  was  afterward  used 
there  and  elsewhere  the  thought  was  largely  Greek 
thought.     The  intellectual  conceptions  which  were  car- 


CONTINUITIES  IN   MISSIONS.  429 

ried  by  the  missionaries  of  the  cross  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth  were  indeed  from  Palestine  but  were  shaped 
on  a  mental  form  which  had  been  evolved  in  little 
Hellas. 

472.  There  is  one  line  of  missionary  continuity 
which  may  well  be  called  the  backbone  of  the  whole 
body.  It  is  the  line  of  literature.  From  the  Septua- 
gint  rendering  of  the  Sacred  Writings  on  through  all 
the  Two  Thousand  Years  the  Scriptures  and  Scrip- 
ture-filled expositions  of  Christianity  in  written  or 
printed  form  were  the  spinal  column  on  which  all  sub- 
stantial missionary  efforts  depended  for  rectitude,  per- 
manency and  constant  nerve  supply.  We  expect  this 
in  the  work  of  the  Dutch,  the  Danes,  the  Puritans  and 
the  Moravians.  We  are  not  surprised  to  find  it  in 
the  records  of  Tatian,  Wulfila,  Gregory  of  Armenia, 
Columbus,  the  Si-gnan-fu  Nestorian  tablet  and  other 
accounts  of  the  earlier  missions.  We  have  seen  that 
Tatian  was  converted  by  the  influence  which  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  gained  over  his  mind.  He  was 
the  very  man  to  combine  the  four  Gospels  of  the  New 
Testament  into  a  continuous  narrative  which  was 
widely  used  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West.  After 
being  lost  for  centuries  copies  have  recently  been 
found. 

In  his  fascinating  address  on  the  relation  of  the  Bible 
to  missions  at  the  Ecumenical  Conference  in  New 
York  Canon  Edmonds  called  attention  to  the  early  testi- 
mony on  this  point  as  follows : 

"It  is  a  striking  thing  that  Bible  work — the  work,  that  is, 
of  translating  and  disseminating  the  Scriptures — began  where 
missions  to  the  heathen  began.     Its  starting  point  is  Antioch. 


430  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Listen  to  St.  Chrysostom,  the  most  illustrious  name  after  the 
Apostolic  Age  in  that  great  missionary  city  where  many  were 
illustrious,  as  he  comments  upon  St.  John : 

"  'The  doctrine  of  St.  John  did  not  in  such  sort  (as  the 
Philosophers  did)  vanish  away;  but  the  Syrians,  Egyptians, 
Indians,  Persians,  Ethiopians,  and  infinite  other  nations,  being 
barbarous  people,  translated  it  into  their  (mother)  tongue, 
and  have  learned  to  be  (true)  Philosophers.'  And  King 
James'  translators,  who  quote  this  in  their  'Address  to  the 
Reader,'  add  a  similar  passage  from  Theodoret,  next  to  St. 
Chrysostom  both  for  antiquity  and  learning.  His  words  are 
these :  'Every  country  that  is  under  the  sun  is  full  of  these 
words,  and  the  Hebrew  tongue  is  turned  not  only  into  the 
language  of  the  Grecians,  but  also  of  the  Romans,  and 
Egyptians,  and  Persians,  and  Indians,  and  Armenians,  and 
Scythians,  and  Sauromatians,  and,  briefly,  into  all  the  lan- 
guages that  any  nation  useth.'  " 

The  New  Testament  itself  in  large  part  is  simply 
the  missionary  writings  of  the  first  generation  of  mis- 
sionaries. Paul's  letters  are  obviously  that.  The 
book  of  Acts  is  a  history  of  missions  by  a  mission- 
ary helper  of  Paul.  The  Gospel  by  the  same  author 
has  always  been  regarded  as  written  especially  for 
the  heathen  world.  The  other  Gospels,  whether  for 
Jew  or  Gentile,  were  written  to  accomplish  missionary 
ends.  Even  the  Apocalypse  is  plainly  addressed  to 
mission  churches  in  Asia  Minor.  The  letters  of  James 
and  Peter  were  clearly  written  for  a  similar  purpose. 
The  last  word  of  the  New  Testament,  John's  third 
letter,  was  written  to  tell  how  to  treat  missionaries. 

The  continuity  of  the  spinal  cord  of  sacred  writing 
is  perfectly  obvious.  The  Hebrew  passed  into  the 
Greek,  the  Greek  in  the  western  world  into  the  Latin, 
and  the  Latin  Vulgate  .branched  into  various  European 


CONTINUITIES  IN   MISSIONS.  43 1 

versions.     There  is  no  straighter  stem  of  the  contin- 
uous development  than  our  English  Bible. 

473.  We  expect  the  Scriptures  to  hold  a  large  place 
in  Protestant  and  in  primitive  missions.  The  prin- 
ciple is  especially  impressive  when  we  note  its  work- 
ing in  mediaeval  and  Roman  Catholic  missions.  As 
we  saw,  one  of  the  great,  abiding,  services  of  the  Greek 
Catholic  apostles  of  the  Slavs  was  their  creation  of 
an  alphabet  and  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  on  which 
the  Bible  of  the  Russians  and  other  Slavonic  peoples 
still  rests.  We  found  the  noble  Roman  missionary, 
Monte  Corvino,  translating  portions  of  Scripture  in 
mediaeval  China  and  heard  his  pathetic  appeal  for  a 
supply  of  Christian  literature.  Let  Canon  Edmonds 
tell  us  how  Tatian's  Greek  Diatessaron,  Four-Gospels- 
combined,  took  a   Latin  form : 

"In  the  sixth  century,  and  then  in  the  ninth  [it]  was  turned 
into  old  Saxon.  Under  the  name  of  the  'Heliand'  it  assumed 
the  form  of  poetry,  and  was  a  chief  instrument  in  the  con- 
version of  the  Saxons  whom  the  severities  of  Charles  the 
Great  had  compelled  to  conform,  but  whose  heart  was  not 
won  till  the  'Heliand'  won  it.  In  this  form,  says  Dr.  Wace, 
the  gospel  lived  in  the  heart  of  the  German  people,  and  in  due 
time  produced  Luther  and  the  German  Bible,  thus  bind- 
ing together  the  second  century  and  the  sixteenth,  the  East 
and  the  West.     .     .     . 

"Nearly  eighty  years  were  to  pass  before  Europe  was  to 
stand  at  the  parting  of  the  ways.  Twenty  editions  of  the 
Latin  Bible  had  been  printed  in  Germany  alone  before  Luther 
was  born  (Maitland's  Dark  Ages,  p.  469),  and  in  the  year 
that  followed  the  nailing  up  of  the  'Theses'  at  the  door  of 
the  church  at  Wittenberg  the  fourteenth  known  issue  of  a 
German    Bible   took   place.      (October   31,    1517.)      All    these 


432  TWO   THOUSAND    YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

fourteen  issues  were  large  folio  Bibles,  and  were  not  mere  re- 
prints but  translations  from  the  Vulgate." 

At  the  very  time  when  the  Council  of  Trent  was 
putting  the  Bible  into  the  background  with  Roman- 
ists at  home,  their  apostle  at  the  front,  Xavier,  through 
his  convert  and  interpreter  was  translating  one  of  the 
Gospels  into  Japanese.  Even  after  that  unhappy  coun- 
cil the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  everywhere  put 
something  in  writing  for  the  instruction  and  upbuild- 
ing of  converts.  Frequently  it  was  fragments  of  Sa- 
cred Scripture,  more  commonly  it  was  pieces  of  ritual 
or  creed.  But  these  latter  were  to  a  considerable 
extent  based  on  the  facts  and  even  the  very  words 
of  Scripture.  The  significant  thing  is  that  it  was  re- 
ligious literature. 

474.  Early  missionary  writings*  outside  of  those 
counted  the  Sacred  Writings  played  an  important  part 
in  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel.  They  have  gone  by 
the  name  of  "Apologies."  To  us  that  term  suggests  too 
much  of  speculation  and  at  the  same  time  of  mere  de- 
fense, to  say  nothing  of  its  having  a  savor  of  deprecat- 
ing confession.  But  these  writings  were  for  intensely 
practical  ends.  They  were  nobly  aggressive.  They 
were  missionary  documents,  tracts  and  treatises  by 
which  heathenism  in  its  popular,  also  in  its  philosoph- 
ical and  imperial  seats,  was  boldly  attacked.  We  have 
seen  how  Clement  and  Origen  in  Egypt,  Tertullian, 
Cyprian  and  Arnobius  in  North  Africa,  Quadratus  and 
Aristides  in  Athens  and  Justin  and  Tatian  in  Rome, 
trained  their  literary  guns  on  paganism.  This  was  be- 
ing done  in  other  parts -of  the  empire.  For  instance, 
Commodianus,  who  speaks  of  himself  as  belonging  to 


CONTINUITIES  IN    MISSIONS.  433 

Gaza,  wrote  a  poem  casting  ridicule  on  the  gods,  en- 
titled "Instructions  to  the  Gods  of  the  Heathen."  It 
consists  of  eighty  sections,  each  one  being  an  acrostic 
of  which  the  initial  letters  spell  the  title  of  the  section. 
He  wrote  another  poem  of  1020  lines,  entitled,  "An 
Apologetic  Song  Against  Jews  and  Gentiles." 

There  is  space  in  the  present  summary  merely  to 
name  some  of  the  early  literary  missionaries.  Quad- 
ratics and  Miltiades  of  Athens,  Ariston  of  Pella,  Claud- 
ius Apollinaris  of  Hierapolis,  Melito  of  Sardis,  Theoph- 
ilus  of  Antioch,  and  Hermias  all  wrote  in  the  second 
century  in  advocacy  of  Christianity,  but  their  writings 
have  been  lost.  The  writings  of  four  other  "apologists" 
of  that  century  have  reached  us.  Aristides,  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, Tatian  and  Athenagoras.  Clement,  Origen,  Ter- 
tullian,  Cyprian,  Commodianus,  Minucius  Felix  and 
Hippolytus  came  during  the  first  part  of  the  next  cen- 
tury and  Arnobius  at  the  end  of  it.  We  know  of  at 
least  twenty-nine  distinctively  "apologetic"  writings  by 
these  nineteen  men  between  the  years  126  and  300,  only 
one  of  them  being  later  than  the  year  250.  Six  of 
these  writings  were  arguments  directed  to  the  Jews, 
eight  were  addressed  to  emperors  (two  to  Hadrian, 
four  to  Marcus  Aurelius,  two  to  Antoninus  Pius),  and 
the  other  fifteen  were  intended  for  such  in  the  heathen 
world  as  could  be  induced  to  read  them.  The  lit- 
erary work  in  missions  for  125  years  after  the  year  125 
was  a  mighty  force,  second  only  to  that  of  the  last  half 
of  the  first  century. 

475.  It  is  not  only  true  of  the  individual  that  "writ- 
ing makes  the  exact  man,"  as  the  adage  writing 


434  TW0  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

is  also  essential  to  precision  and  sureness  in  the  spirit- 
ual development  of  the  whole  race  of  men.  The  most 
careful  writer  in  the  New  Testament  from  a  literary 
point  of  view,  in  describing  the  first  mission  in  Thes- 
salonica  speaks  of  the  magistrates  of  the  city  by  a  pre- 
cise term,  "politarchs."  Ages  afterward  scholars  hos- 
tile to  Christianity  declared  Luke's  whole  missionary 
history  to  be  proved  untrustworthy  by  that  one  word, 
for  there  were  no  such  officers  known  in  those  days  as 
"politarchs"  or  named  by  any  other  writer.  But,  near 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was  brought 
to  light  an  ancient  Greek  inscription  containing  this 
word  carved  in  solid  stone  over  the  very  gateway  of 
Thessalonica  through  which  Paul  must  have  gone  when 
driven  away  by  the  action  of  those  "rulers  of  the  city." 
It  was  a  modern  Scotch  missionary  in  Thessalonica, 
Peter  Crosbie,  who  later  rescued  that  stone  and  had  it 
sent  to  the  British  Museum.  Other  inscriptions  con- 
taining this  word  have  been  found  from  time  to  time 
until  Dr.  E.  D.  Burton  has  been  able  to  bring  together, 
by  the  careful  and  searching  work  for  which  he  is  noted, 
no  fewer  than  nineteen  ancient  inscriptions  containing 
this  word.  He  has  put  them  within  the  reach  of  all  in 
his  "The  Politarchs  in  Macedonia  and  Elsewhere."  That 
one  scientifically  exact  word  of  the  old  Greek  medical 
missionary  and  historian  of  missions  has  put  the  New 
Testament  itself,  of  which  he  wrote  so  large  a  part,  on  a 
solid  rock  of  demonstration  as  to  its  trustworthiness 
and  accuracy. 

No  intelligent  missionaries  have  expected  their  work 
to  be  abiding  except  as  it  has  been  anchored  in  let- 


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CONTINUITIES  IN    MISSIONS.  435 

ters.  From  the  Apostles  on  the  eastern  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  to  the  Franciscans  on  the  western  coast 
of  America  some  expression  of  Christianity  has  been 
put  down  in  black  and  white  to  which  the  eye  of  the 
body  and  the  eye  of  the  mind  could  frequently  recur. 
Though  Christ  left  us  no  writings,  and  though  none 
about  him  which  are  extant  were  written  for  a  score 
of  years  after  his  crucifixion,  and  though  Christianity 
is  life,  not  words,  yet  it  is  pre-eminently  a  literary  reli- 
gion, based  on  a  literature  and  building  a  literature. 
Literature  has  always  been  vital  to  missions.  Mis- 
sions have  always  been  propaganda  of  culture. 

476.  The  last  statement  is  susceptible  of  a  wide  ap- 
plication, even  the  widest.  Missions  have  everywhere 
promoted  personal  refinement  and  social  betterment. 
In  land  after  land  they  have  initiated  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion. Trade  has  generally  preceded  missions  and  has 
always  followed.  But  pioneer  trade  has  more  often 
than  otherwise  debased  the  natives.  In  fields  most 
widely  separated  by  space  and  by  the  creed  of  the  Eu- 
ropean visitants  we  have  seen  that  the  missionaries 
have  had  more  difficulty  in  counteracting  the  evil 
influence  of  the  colonists  than  in  overcoming  the  in- 
herent degradation  of  the  natives.  This  is  one  of 
the  surest  disclosures  made  by  a  world-wide  study  of 
missionary  beginnings.  In  order  to  uplift  communi- 
ties missions  have  had  to  outweigh  not  only  raw  bar- 
barism, but  also  the  heavy  dross  of  civilization.  Sur- 
vivals and  indurations  of  barbarism  are  far  more  in- 
solvent than  the  primitive  substance.  That  is  why  city 
missions  among  the  slums  and  missions  to  the  long  civ- 


436  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

ilized  portions  of  Asia  are  more  difficult  than  missions 
to  the  totally  uncivilized. 

But  in  spite  of  their  double  task  missions  on  all  con- 
tinents have  been  the  effective  mainspring  to  a 
higher  life.  This  has  been  especially  marked  in  the 
history  of  all  the  Teutonic  peoples.  The  Franks,  the 
Germans,  the  Scandinavians  and  the  Anglo-Saxons 
had  their  primitive  savagery  softened  and  were  in- 
spired with  the  noble,  refining  ideals  which  have  led 
them  to  become  what  they  are  by  Christian  missions. 
For  them  to  fail  now  to  send  this  regenerating  agency 
to  the  portions  of  humanity  which  are  still  destitute 
would  be  the  colossal  instance  of  ingratitude  on  our 
planet.  The  vital  factor  in  the  evolution  of  society  is  the 
growth  of  altruism,  otherism.  The  essential  difference 
between  a  savage  and  a  gentleman  is  that  the  latter  is 
more  gentle,  i.  e.,  more  considerate  of  other  people. 
When  all  men  in  any  place  are  perfect  gentlemen  they 
will  pay  active  attention  to  the  state  of  all  other  men 
in  every  place  so  far  as  they  are  able.  The  mission- 
ary enterprise  is  at  once  the  supreme  instance  and 
the  historic  instigation  of  this  temper.  It  has  been 
somewhat  fitfully  yet  as  a  whole  steadily  transforming 
human  society.  It  is  the  pioneer  of  civilization,  i.  e., 
of  a  sense  of  citizenship ;  of  wider  and  ever  wider  rela- 
tionships with  fellow-citizens  to  take  the  place  of  all- 
absorbing,  barbarian  selfishness. 

477.  We  are  not  looking  for  superficial  but  for 
vital  continuities,  not  for  those  which  are  formal  but 
for  those  which  are  formative.  The  missionary  enter- 
prise has  had   no  continuous,   outward   organization 


CONTINUITIES  IN    MISSIONS.  437 

except  the  succession  of  churches,  imaginatively  called 
the  Church  Universal.  A  church  which  does  not  fail 
of  God's  intention  for  it  is  a  missionary  society.  But 
most  of  the  churches  through  the  ages  have  largely 
missed  this  meaning  of  their  existence  and  have  clung 
only  to  the  selfish  side  of  their  purpose,  being  devoted 
self-culture  clubs.  The  missionary  purpose  of  the 
Church  has  not  been  held  with  sufficient  intensity  and 
constancy  to  develop  a  specialized  organism  as  a  vital 
part  of  itself.  But  from  time  to  time  it  has  invented 
temporary  instruments  for  doing  the  work.  There 
have  been,  continuously,  two  organic  elements,  however 
— personal  initiative  and  the  contagion  of  example. 
While  large  groups  of  disciples,  called  churches,  failed 
to  be  missionary,  between  the  early  age  and  the  time  of 
Carey,  individual  Christians  were  fired  with  the  true 
intention  of  Christianity,  and  carried  it  out  by  whatever 
means  they  found  possible.  These  set  others  aflame  and 
the  holy  fire  spread.  At  first  there  were  few  formal  mis- 
sionaries. Earnest  Christians  scattered  by  business  amid 
the  population  of  the  heathen  and  Jewish  world  dil- 
igently propagated  their  faith.  We  are  indebted  to 
an  enemy  for  a  record  of  splendid  activity.  Celsus 
in  the  second  century  sneered  at  Christianity  because 
it  was  propagated  by  shoemakers  and  fullers,  workers 
in  wool  and  leather,  who  talked  about  their  doctrines 
in  their  workshops. 

After  the  providential  agencies  which  dispersed  the 
Jews  and  scattered  the  early  Christians  the  instru- 
mentalities of  the  missions  before  Carey  might  be 
classified  as  promiscuous,  papal,  monastic,  mendicant 


438  TWO    THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

(Franciscan  and  Dominican),  military,  Jesuit,  colo- 
nial and  denominational  (Moravian).  Each  one  of 
these  demands  at  least  a  whole  chapter  for  mere  out- 
line description.  The  Jesuit  and  the  Moravian  are  the 
only  ones  which  have  been  adequately  treated  in  Eng-"* 
lish  as  missionary  agencies.  Each  of  the  other  six 
deserves  careful  study  and  a  volume  of  treatment. 
Here  is  congenial,  pertinent  and  widely  useful  work 
for  half-a-dozen  of  the  many  educated  young  minis- 
ters whose  heart's  desire  to  enter  the  mission 
field  personally  has  been  providentially  thwarted. 
Concerning  one  of  the  most  fascinating  of  them  all, 
the  Franciscan  order,  there  is  abundance  of  material 
already  gathered  in  other  languages ;  one  set  of  twenty 
volumes  in  Latin,  another  of  eleven  volumes  in  Ital- 
ian, the  latter  devoted  distinctively  to  the  missionary 
work  of  that  wonderful  order.  Francis  of  Assisi,  the 
noblest  of  Roman  Catholic  missionary  inspirers,  set 
a  heroic  missionary  pace  himself  in  the  first  quarter 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  Before  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  there  were  120,000  Franciscans  scat- 
tered throughout  the  world.  They  were  by  no  means 
all  missionaries,  but  multitudes  of  them  were  at  work 
in  heathen  lands.  The  Recollets  and  the  Capuchins, 
whose  names  occasionally  appear  in  missionary  his- 
tory, are  branches  of  the  great  Franciscan  stock.  The 
story  of  the  Jesuits  is  better  known  partly  because 
they  laid  themselves  open  to  just  and  terrible  criticism. 
But  the  "Black  Robes"  were  not  all  black  sheep. 
Many  of  them  were  as  noble  and  true  missionaries  as 
the  Grey  Friars  or  any  other  brethren.     At  the  time 


CONTINUITIES  IN    MISSIONS.  439 

of  their  suppression  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  they  had  275  missionary  stations.  They  are 
said  to  have  had  as  many  as  13,000  missionaries  in  the 
field  at  one  time. 

By  limitation  of  space  our  present  study  has  been 
confined  to  missions  on  the  fields  with  only  incidental 
mention  of  the  sending  agencies.  But  a  mere  glance 
at  missionary  organization  shows  a  real  though  uneven 
development.  In  the  early  centuries  there  was  no 
regular  organization.  Then  monasticism  became  de- 
voted in  part  to  missions.  In  the  West,  at  least,  as 
we  have  seen,  many  monasteries  were  mainly  mission- 
ary settlements.  Later  the  mendicant  orders  took  up 
the  work  with  much  more  definiteness.  Later  still, 
the  Company  of  Jesus  carried  organization  and  disci- 
pline in  missions  to  the  last  degree,  but  not  to  the 
highest  degree.  It  was  in  the  last  of  the  twenty  cen- 
turies under  review  that  the  Moravian  Brethren 
brought  missionary  organization  almost  to  perfection. 
With  them  single  individualities,  with  the  exception 
of  Zinzendorf,  have  not  stood  out  in  great  prominence. 
It  has  been  more  the  movement  of  a  whole  church. 
Even  the  Company  of  Jesus,  with  its  rigorous  and 
unparalleled  subordination  of  every  member  to  the 
interests  of  the  order,  failed  to  produce  such  a  uni- 
form level  of  devotion  as  that  spontaneously  reached 
by  the  free  spirit  in  the  Moravians.  There  is  no  other 
instance  on  record  in  any  age,  even  the  apostolic  age, 
of  a  whole  church  making  foreign  missions  its  chief 
business,  in  fact,  almost  its  only  business.  They  have 
done  this  now  for  five  generations.     They,  long  ago, 


440  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS    OF    MISSIONS. 

came  to  have  more  members  in  the  churches  of  their 
mission  fields  than  in  their  home-land,  as  forthputting 
England  has  far  more  people  in  her  colonial  posses- 
sions than  in  the  mother  country.  When  will  all 
churches  learn  this  grand  secret? 

478.     Apostle  means  missionary.     In  this  its  true 
sense  the  apostolic  succession  has  been  unbroken.     It 
is  too  common  for  those  interested  in  some  special 
group  of  workers  to  assume  that  the  good  originated 
with  them,  when  in  fact  they  took  it  up  from  others 
and    carried    it   to    some   new    development.     Roman 
Catholics  not  only  preceded  Protestants  in  time  but 
also  led  them  in  zeal.     Any  one  who  reads  the  English 
and  American  missionary  writings  of  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  will  discover  that  Protestants 
were  inspired,  sometimes  nettled,  into  evangelizing  ac- 
tivity by  the  Romanists.     In  1721  Cotton  Mather  in 
Boston  published  a  little  book  which  well  illustrates 
the  continuity  of  missionary  effort  across  all  barriers 
of  time,  space  and  creed.     Barriers  of  space  and  creed 
were  much  greater,  too,  in  those  days  than  they  are 
now.     It   is   entitled    "India   Christiana,   a   discourse, 
Delivered  unto  the  Commissioners,  for  the  Propaga-. 
tion  of  the  Gospel  among  the  American  Indians,  which 
is  Accompanied  with  several  Instruments  relating  to 
the  Glorious  Design  of  Propagating  our  Holy  Reli- 
gion in  the  Eastern  as  well  as  the  Western,  Indies." 
His  own  discourse  is  on  "A  Joyful  Sound  reaching 
to  both  the  Indias."     Next  is  a  letter  written  to  Mather 
by   Prof.   Francke,   of   Halle,   Germany,  the   spiritual 
father  of  Danish  and  modern  Moravian  missions,  giv- 


CONTINUITIES  IN   MISSIONS.  44I 

ing  an  enthusiastic  account  of  the  Danish  mission  in 
India.  Then  follows  a  long  letter  in  Latin,  with  an 
English  translation,  which  Mather  had  sent  to  Ziegen- 
balg  in  India,  with  a  reply  written  by  Grundler,  a 
co-laborer  of  Ziengenbalg.  The  Puritan  says  in  his  let- 
ter to  the  Lutheran : 

"Great  and  Grevious  and  never  enough  to  be  bewailed,  has 
been  the  scandal  given  in  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation; 
in  that  so  very  little,  yea,  next  to  nothing,  has  been  done  in 
them,  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  .  .  .  while  at  the 
same  time  the  Church  of  Rome,  strives,  with  an  Unwearied 
and  Extravagant  Labour,  to  Propagate  the  Idolatry  and 
Superstition  of  Antichrist,  and  advance  the  Empire  of  Satan," 
— with  more  too  virulent  for  modern  ears,  followed  by — "Their 
Attempts,  how  never  tired !  Their  travels,  how  very  tedious ! 
And  with  what  an  Ardour  are  they  Ambitious  of  a  Crown, 
which  appears  to  them  a  True  Martyrdom,  and  for  the  Truth." 

This  is  unimpeachable  testimony  that  Protest- 
ants were  in  every  sense  of  the  word  "pro- 
voked to  good  works"  of  the  missionary  kind  by  the 
children  of  Rome.  Mather's  precious  little  book  ends 
with  "The  present  Condition  of  the  Indians  on  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard,  Extracted  from  an  Account  of  Mr. 
Experience  Mayhew."  Though  there  was  a  little  fric- 
tion in  the  connecting  links  it  is  a  highly  significant 
fact  that  Germany,  New  England  and  India,  Jesuit, 
Lutheran  and  Puritan,  were  linked  together  in  one 
golden  missionary  chain. 

479.  The  stream  of  ecclesiastical  continuity  has  been 
followed  down  by  church  history  abundantly  and  su- 
perabundantly. It  flows  through  Rome.  The  con- 
tinuity of  the  current  of  theological  thought  has  been 
instructively    traced  by  Prof.    Allen  and    others.     It 


442  TWO   THOUSAND  YEARS   OF   MISSIONS. 

flows  through  Alexandria.  In  the  historical  geogra- 
phy! of  the  Church  of  Christ  there  is  a  third  stream, 
deeper,  more  vital  and  spiritual  than  either  of  these, 
which  has  not  often,  if  ever,  been  traced  continuously 
in  print.  It  is  the  stream  of  evangelizing  impulse. 
Like  the  urrent  of  true  thinking  it  was  underground 
some  of  the  time,  but  it  was  never  lost.  It  flows 
through  Thessalonica.  This  church  was  more  surely 
of  Apostolic  origin  than  that  of  either  Rome  or  Alex- 
andria. It  was  unmistakably  founded  by  the  Apostle 
Paul,  the  foremost  primitive  missionary.  Out  of  it  came 
the  apostles  of  the  Slavonic  nations,  including  Bo- 
hemia and  Moravia.  Out  of  this  portion  of  the  Slavs 
came  Jerome  of  Prague  and  John  Huss,  the  reformers, 
before  the  Reformation.  There  were  200,000  evan- 
gelical Bohemian  Christians  when  Luther  nailed  his 
theses  to  the  door.  They  suffered  everything  rather 
than  give  up  their  faith.  Out  of  these  came  a  rescued 
remnant  to  settle  on  Count  Zinzendorf's  estate  as  the 
Moravian  Brethren.  Out  of  these  came  directly  the 
religious  culture  and  life  of  Schleiermacher  to  turn 
the  tide  of  rationalism  in  Germany.  Out  of  these 
came  also  directly  the  conversion  of  John  Wesley 
into  a  source  of  the  mightiest  spiritual  impulse  in 
England  and  America.  Out  of  these  same  Moravian 
Brethren  came  the  most  complete  missionary  activity 
which  has  developed  in  the  first  Two  Thousand  Years 
of  Missions.  More  still,  out  of  their  splendid  exam- 
ple and  under  the  religious  conditions  produced  in  Eng- 
land by  their  spiritual  child,  John  Wesley,  came  the 
missionary  impulse  which  fired  the  heart  of  William 


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CONTINUITIES  IN    MISSIONS.  443 

Carey  and  made  him  the  leader  in  such  a  new  devel- 
opment of  missonary  enterprise  that  he  has  been  prop- 
erly counted  the  starting-point  of  the  great  era  of 
modern  missions.  He  was  not  unconscious  of  this 
principle  of  continuity,  but  points  it  out  plainly  in 
his  epoch-making  document,  the  "Enquiry  into  the  Ob- 
ligations of  Christians  to  use  means  for  the  Conversion 
of  the  Heathens."  Section  II  "contains  a  short  Review 
of  former  undertakings  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Heathen."  He  recounts  the  salient  facts  of  mission- 
ary history  from  the  records  of  Justin  Martyr  and 
Irenseus  on  to  his  own  day,  speaking  of  Augustine  and 
Boniface,  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  Xavier  and 
Ziegenbalg,  Eliot  and  Brainerd  and  others.  He  con- 
cludes : 

"But  none  of  the  moderns  have  equalled  the  Moravian 
Brethren  in  this  good  work;  they  have  sent  missions  to  Green- 
land, Labrador  and  several  of  the  West  Indian  Islands,  which 
have  been  blessed  for  good.  They  have  likewise  sent  to 
Abyssinia  in  Africa,  but  what  success  they  have  had  I  can- 
not tell.  The  late  Mr.  Wesley  lately  made  an  effort  in  the 
West  Indias,  and  some  of  their  ministers  are  now  laboring 
amongst  the  Caribbs  and  Negroes,  and  I  have  seen  pleasing 
accounts  of  their  success." 

Carey  was  received  into  church  membership,  li- 
censed to  preach  and  ordained  in  a  chapel  at  Olney, 
England.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  village  square 
stood  the  house  in  which  William  Cowper  was  living, 
the  man  who  sang  for  Carey  and  all  England  the  praises 
of  Moravian  missions  in  nearly  one  hundred  lines  of 
his  poem,  "Hope."  The  following  are  six  of  these 
lines : 


444  TW0  THOUSAND   YEARS   OF    MISSIONS. 

"See  Germany  send  forth 
Her  sons  to  pour  it  on  the  farthest  north: 
Fired  with  a  zeal  peculiar,  they  defy 
The  rage  and  vigor  of  a  polar  sky, 
And  plant  successfully  sweet  Sharon's  rose 
On  icy  plains,  and  in  eternal  snows." 

Zinzendorf  approaching  the  West  India  Islands  said 
to  the  group  of  humble  Herrnhiitters  with  him  on 
deck,  "What  will  you  do  on  landing  if  you  find  that 
all  your  brethren  who  came  here  months  ago  to  work 
among  the  slaves  have  perished?"  They  answered, 
"We  will  take  their  places."  The  Count  exclaimed 
"Gens  cBterna — these  Moravians!" 

In  that  memorable  saying  he  spoke  a  larger  truth 
even  than  he  thought.  They  had  been  begotten  of 
generations  of  ancient  Bohemian  Brethren — and  they 
of  Hussites — and  they  of  Cyril  and  Methodius — and 
they  of  a  people  from  whom  the  word  of  the  Lord 
sounded  forth  not  only  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia  but  in 
every  place — and  they  of  a  man  who  counted  not  his  life 
dear  unto  himself  so  that  he  might  testify  the  gospel 
of  the  grace  of  God — and  he  on  the  way  to  Damascus 
had  been  begotten  by  the  spirit  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  God. 


GENS  .STERNA. 


MM 

'V-'ir  •?  •  M 


//.  A   Robert. 


THE  PARABLE  OI;  THE  SOWER 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

Of  Missionary  Beginnings  and  Other  Prominent  Events 
of  the  Work. 

a — About. 
b — Before. 
* — Ministry  completed. 

BEFORE  CHRISTIAN  ERA. 
586    Hebrew  dispersion  established. 
334    Greek  diffusion  by  Alexander. 
a28o     Scriptures  into  Greek  begun. 
ai50     Scriptures  into  Greek  completed. 
189     Roman  conquest  of  Syria. 
27     Roman  Empire  established. 
a5     Birth  of  Jesus. 

FIRST  CENTURY. 
a27     Jesus  begins  public  ministry. 

a27    Jesus  proclaims  his  Messiahship  to  the  Samaritans. 
a2Q    Jesus  works  in  Phoenicia. 
a30     "The  Great  Commission." 
a30    Gospel  in  many  tongues  at  Pentecost. 
a35     Ethiopia  by  Candace's  Treasurer. 
a37     Roman  Captain  Cornelius  converted. 
a38     Greeks  in  Antioch  evangelized. 

a.46    Asia  Minor.     First  foreign  mission  by  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas. 
a5i     Macedonia  by  apostolic  band. 
a52    Greece  by  apostolic  band. 

a52     New  Testament   Scriptures  begun  by  Paul  as  a  mis- 
sionary measure. 
a62     Rome  by  Paul. 
a64     Crete  by  apostolic  band. 

445 


446  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

a64     Spain  by  Paul. 

70     Destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  localism. 
a95     New   Testament    Scriptures   completed   by   John   with 
letter  concerning  missionaries. 

SECOND  CENTURY. 

112  Pliny's  report  to  Trajan. 

ai25  Literary  advocacy  of  Christianity, 

aiso  France  from  Asia  Minor. 

163*  Justin  Martyr. 

ai75  Bardaisan  in  Edessa. 

ai85  India  by  Pantsenus. 

b200  Scriptures  into  Syriac. 

b2co  North  Africa. 

D200  Austria  from  Northern  Italy. 

b200  Britain. 

a200  Scriptures  into  Latin.     ("Itala,"  in  North  Africa.) 

THIRD  CENTURY. 

202*  Pantaenus. 
a2io    Arabia,  Origen  in. 

220*  Clement  of  Alexandria. 
a2i7    Armenia  by  Bardaisan. 

3230    Rome.     Statue  of  Jesus  erected  by  the  Emperor. 
b254     Spain.     Christianity  widespread. 

254*  Origen. 

258*  Cyprian. 
b27o     Scriptures   into   Coptic. 

270*  Gregory  of  New  Caesarea. 
D300     Goths  by  Christian  slaves. 
3300     Persia. 
a300     Roman  Empire  largely  evangelized. 

FOURTH  CENTURY. 

302     Armenia  by  Gregory. 

313     Imperial  sanction  of  Christianity. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  447 

313  Georgia  from  Armenia. 

314  Suabia  and  Bavaria. 

325     First  Ecumenical  Council,  at  Nice. 
3330     Abyssinia  by  Frumentius. 

332*  Gregory  of  Armenia. 

341     The  Goths  by  Ulfilas. 
8350     Scriptures  into  Abyssinian  by  (?)  Frumentius. 

350    Arabia  by  Greeks. 
3375     Scriptures  into  Gothic  by  Ulfilas. 

381*  Ulfilas. 

391     Egypt.     The  Serapeum  destroyed. 

394     Heathen  sacrifices  forbidden  in  Rome  by  Theodosius. 

397*  Martin  of  Tours. 
a400     Scotland,  Southern,  by  Ninian. 
a40O     Scriptures  into  Latin  by  Jerome  (Vulgate). 
a400     Scriptures  into  Armenian  by  Mesrob. 

FIFTH  CENTURY. 

411  Spain,  Suevi  and  Alani. 

414  Burgundy. 

3431  Ireland  by  Patrick. 

a440  Nestorian  advance  in  Asia. 

454  Austria  by  Severinus. 

482*  Severinus. 

490  Nestorian  training-school  at  Nisibis. 

a493*  Patrick. 

496  France.     Clovis  baptized. 

3500  Franks.     First  missionary  from  Ireland,  Fridolin. 

SIXTH  CENTURY. 

529    University  of  Athens  suppressed  because  of  its  pagan- 
ism. 

529  Benedictines  organized. 

a530  Indicopleustes  finds  Christians  in  India. 

530  Teutonic  tribes  on  the  Black  Sea. 
3536  China  by  Nestorians.     Jaballaha.   (?) 
a550  Illyria  and  Mcesia. 


44-8  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

a550  Lombards,  Northern  Italy. 

563  Scotland,   Northern,   by   Columba. 

563  Scotland,  the  Picts,  by  Gildas  (  ?) 

3-575  Scotland,  Southern,  by  Kentigem. 

590  France  by  Irish  (Columbanus). 

596  England  by  Benedictines  (Augustine). 

597*  Columba. 

598  England,  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  baptized. 
b6oo       Scriptures  into  Georgian. 

a6oo  Germany  by  the  Irish. 

SEVENTH  CENTURY. 

603*  Kentigern. 
604*  Augustine  of  England. 
604     England,  East  Saxons. 
610     Switzerland  by  Irish  (Gallus). 
615*  Columbanus. 

615     Franconia  and  Thuringia  by  Irish  (Kilian). 
625     England,  Northumbria,  by  Bertha  and  Paulinus. 
3630     Netherlands  by  Amandus. 

630  Croatia. 

631  England,  East  Angles. 

634  England,  West  Saxons. 

635  China  by  Nestorians. 
644*  Paulinus. 

646*  Gallus. 

650  Mercians. 

664  Council  of  Whitby. 

677  Netherlands  by  English  (Wilfrid). 

681  England,  South  Saxons,  by  Angles  (Wilfrid). 

696  Bavaria.     Duke  Theodore  II.  baptized  by  Rupert 

a7oo  Denmark  by  Willibrord. 

EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

706     Scriptures  into  Anglo-Saxon. 

709*  Wilfrid. 

718     Germany  by  English  (Boniface). 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  449 

719     Scriptures  into  Arabic. 
722     Thuringia  and  Hesse  by  Boniface. 
724    Destruction  of  Thor's  Oak. 
3738*  Willibrord. 
753     Carinthia  by  royal  influence. 
755*  Boniface. 

772    Germany,  Saxony,  by  arms. 
785     Germany,  Saxony,  Wittekind  baptized. 
796    The  Avars  by  royal  influence. 

NINTH  CENTURY. 

822  Denmark   by    Franks    (Ansgar). 

830  Sweden  by  Ansgar. 

845  Bohemia  by  Franks. 

850  Chazars,  Crimea  by  Greeks  (Cyril  and  Methodius). 

b86i  Bulgaria  by  Greeks. 

a862  Scriptures  into  Slavonic  by  Cyril  and  Methodius. 

863  Moravia  by  Greeks. 

865*  Ansgar. 

b866  Russia  by  Greeks. 

869*  Cyril  of  Thessalonica. 

871  Bohemia  by  Greeks. 

885*  Methodius  of  Thessalonica. 

agoo  Western  Macedonia  by  Greeks. 

TENTH  CENTURY. 

912  Normandy.     Duke  Robert  baptized. 

934  Norway  by  royal  influence. 

950  Hungary  by  royal  influence. 

966  Poland  by  royal  influence. 

981  Iceland. 

988  Russia  by  royal  influence.     Vladimir  baptized. 

998  Faroe  and  Shetland  Islands. 

1000  Greenland  by  Icelanders. 

aiooo  East  Prussia  by  Dominicans. 


45°  TWO   THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

ELEVENTH  CENTURY. 
31005     Kerait  Tatars  by  Nestorians. 

1008     Sweden.     King  Olaf  baptized. 
ai020    Denmark  by  English. 

.      TWELFTH  CENTURY. 

1121     Pomerania. 
1 139*  Otho  of  Bamberg. 
-  1157     Finland  by  royal  influence. 
1 168     Island  of  Riigen. 
1 184     Livonia. 
1 190    Teutonic  Knights  organized. 

THIRTEENTH  CENTURY. 

1202  Brothers  of  the  Sword  organized. 

1206  Tatars  by  Nestorians. 

1210  Minor  Brothers,  "Franciscans,"  organized. 

1216  Brothers  Preachers,  "Dominicans,"  organized. 

1219  Egypt  by  Francis  of  Assisi. 

bi225  North  Africa  by  Franciscans. 

1226*  Francis  of  Assisi. 

1245  Tatars  at  Karakorum  by  Franciscans. 

1252  Lithuania  by  arms. 

1256  Brothers  of  St.  Augustine,  "Augustinians,"  organized. 

bi275  North  Africa  by  Dominicans. 

1279  Lapland  by  royal  influence. 

1283  Prussia  subdued  by  the  military  missionary  orders. 

1292  China  by  Franciscans. 

1292  North  Africa  by  Raymond  Lull. 

ai300  Tatar  Khanates  by  Franciscans  and  Dominicans. 

FOURTEENTH  CENTURY. 

1315*  Raymond  Lull. 

1328*  Monte  Corvino. 

1331*  Odoric  of  Pordenone. 

1386    Germany,  Lithuania,  nominal  conversion  completed. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  45 1 

FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

1402  Canary  Islands  by  Franciscans  and  seculars. 

1418  Madeiras. 

1432  Azores. 

bi46o  West  Africa  by  Portuguese. 

1460*  Henry  the  Navigator. 

1482  Southwest  Africa  by  Portuguese. 

1492  Recovery  of  Spain  from  the  Mohammedans. 

1492  Columbus  in  the  West  Indies. 

1493  West  Indies  by  Dominicans. 

SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

1520  India  by  Franciscans. 

1521  Philippine  Islands  by  Magellan. 
1524     Mexico  by  Franciscans. 

1539  New  Mexico  by  Franciscans. 

1534  Company  of  Jesus.  "Jesuits,"  organized. 

1542  India  by  Jesuits  (Xavier). 

1544  Texas  by  Franciscans. 

1546  Malacca  and  Amboyna  by  Xavier. 

1549  Brazil  by  Jesuits. 

1549  Japan  by  Jesuits. 

1552*  Francis  Xavier. 

!559  Swedish  Association  for  evangelizing  the  Lapps. 

1566*  Las  Casas. 

1565  Philippine  Islands  by  Augustinians. 

1566  Florida  by  Jesuits. 
1586  Paraguay  by  Jesuits. 

1577  Philippine  Islands  by  Franciscans. 
1581  Philippine  Islands  by  Dominicans. 
1583     China  by  Jesuits. 

SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

1610    Nova  Scotia  by  secular  priest. 

1615     Province  of  Quebec  by  Recollet  Franciscans. 

1615    Ontario  by  Recollet  Franciscans. 


45^  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

1622  Congrcgatio  de  Propaganda  Fide  organized  in  Rome. 

1624  East  India  Islands  by  Dutch  Presbyterians. 

1624  Formosa  by  Dutch  Presbyterians. 

bi625  Madagascar  by  Portuguese. 

1631  Massachusetts  by  a  Baptist. 

1635  West  Africa  by  French  Franciscans. 

1636  Rhode  Island  by  Baptists. 

1641  New  York  by  Dutch  Presbyterians. 

1641  English  Society  for  Propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

1644  French  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Sacrament  organized. 

1646  Massachusetts  by  Congregationalists. 

1646  Maine  by  Jesuits. 

1646  New  York  by  Jesuits. 

1649  English   Society  for   Propagating  the  Gospel   in  New 

England  organized. 
1649*  Jean  de  Brebeuf. 

1650  Michigan  by  Jesuits. 
ai650     Madagascar  by  French. 

1652*  Justus  Heurnius. 

1652     Africa.    Interior  by  Capuchin  Franciscans. 
1654     South  Africa  by  Dutch  Presbyterians. 
bi657     Scriptures  into  Persian. 
1658     Ceylon  by  Dutch  Presbyterians. 
1663     Scriptures  into  Mohican  by  Eliot 
1665     Wisconsin  by  Jesuits. 
1668    Ladrone  Islands. 
1669*  Johann  Adam  Schall. 
1673     Illinois  by  Jesuits. 
1675*  Jacques  Marquette. 
1681*  Gabriel  Druillettes. 

1682  Pennsylvania  by  Friends. 

1683  Lower  California  by  Jesuits. 
1684*  Roger  Williams. 

1697*  Antonio  Vieira. 
1698     Louisiana  by  secular  priests. 

1698    English   Society  for   Promoting  Christian  Knowledge 
organized. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  453 

EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

1701     English  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts  organized. 

1706  India  by  Danish-Halle  Missionaries. 

1707  Tibet  by  Capuchin  Franciscans. 

1708  Society  in   Scotland  for   Promoting  Christian  Knowl- 

edge organized. 
1714     Norwegian  Society  for  Missions  organized. 
1719*  Ziegenbalg. 

1721  Greenland  by  Danes  (Hans  Egede). 

1722  United  Brethren,  "Moravians,"  reorganized. 
1727     Connecticut  by  Congregationalists. 

ai730  Scriptures  into  Eskimo  by  Egede. 

1732  West  Indies  by  Moravians. 

*7Z3  Greenland  by  Moravians. 

1737  West  Africa  by  Moravians. 

1737  South  Africa  by  Moravians. 

1740  Pennsylvania  by  Moravians. 

1744  Concert  of  Prayer  for  the  Conversion  of  the  World. 

1745  New  Jersey  by  Presbyterians  (Brainerd). 

1751  West  Africa  by  the  English  S.  P.  G. 

1752  Egypt  by  Moravians. 
1758*  Hans  Egede. 

1769  California  by  Franciscans. 

1770  Labrador  by  Moravians. 
1772  Ohio  by  Moravians. 
1780  Cochin  China. 

1784*  George  Schmidt. 

1792     South  Africa  by  Moravians  (permanently). 
1792     English   Baptist   Missionary   Society  organized  under 
the  leadership  of  William  Carey. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Two  principles  have  mainly  determined  the  selection ;  first, 
special  value ;  second,  possible  accessibility.  With  a  few 
important  exceptions,  books  in  foreign  languages  have  been 
excluded.  The  "list  price" — as  kindly  furnished  by  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Publication  Society — is  attached  to  a  few  books 
which  would  be  most  likely  to  be  procured  for  private  or 
public  libraries  in  connection  with  the  present  course  of  study. 
The  earliest  extant  accounts  and  books  which  belong  in  a  gen- 
eral way  to  that  class  are  indicated  by  the  letters  "E.  E." 
Books  which  embody  to  a  good  extent  such  accounts  giving 
the  student  much  first-hand  material  are  marked  "E.  E.  E." 
The  Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library  is  designated  by  "A.-N.  L." 

General. 

SMITH.  G.  Short  History  of  Christian  Missions.  Edinb. : 
T.  &  T.  Clark,  1894.  (75  cts.)  238  pp.,  155  on  our  period. 
By  far  the  best  available. 

BLISS,  E.  M.  A  Concise  History  of  Missions.  N.  Y. : 
Revell,  1897.     (75  cts.) 

SCUDDER,  MRS.  W.  W.  Nineteen  Centuries  of  Missions. 
N.  Y. :  Revell.  1899-     ($1.00). 

HODDER,  E.  Conquests  of  the  Cross;  A  Record  of  Mis- 
sionary Work  Throughout  the  World."  3  vols.  N.  Y. :  Cas- 
sell,  1890.     ($9.00.)    Touches  our  period  occasionally.   Graphic. 

WINSLOW,  M.  Sketch  of  Missions.  Andover:  Flagg  & 
Gould,  1819.  Pp.  13-37,  Before  the  Reformation ;  38-47,  by 
Roman  Catholics;  48-88,  by  Anglo-Americans;  89-119,  by 
Danes;   120-135,  by  Moravians. 

MILLAR,  R.     The  History  of  the  Propagation  of  Chris- 

455 


456  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

tianity  and  Overthrow  of  Paganism.  2  vols.  Edinb. :  John 
Mosman  &  Co.,  1723. 

KINGSMILL,  J.  Missions  and  Missionaries.  Lon. :  Long- 
man, 1853. 

GRANT,  A.  Past  and  Prospective  Extension  of  the  Gospel 
by  Missions  to  the  Heathen.  Lon. :  Rivington,  1845.  Bamp- 
ton  Lectures.     Chaps.  IV,  V  and  VI  good  rapid  survey. 

BLUMHARDT,  C.  G.  Versuch  ciner  Allgemeinen  Mis- 
sionsgeschichte  Kirchc  Christe.  5  vols,  (called  3).  Basel: 
Neukirch,  1828-37.  To  the  Reformation.  Fairly  complete  on 
the  period  covered.     Has  no  equal. 

MARSHALL,  T.  W.  M.  Christian  Missions.  2  vols. 
Lon.  :  Longmans,  1836.  Extremely  partisan  and  unfair,  but 
valuable  as  the  only  general  survey  of  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sions, though  incomplete. 

KEANE,  A.  H.  Man,  Past  and  Present.  Cambridge,  Eng. : 
University  Press,  1809.  ($3.00.)  Conveys  latest  knowledge 
as  to  racial  history,  traits  and  religions.     Ethnological. 

RATZELL,  F.  The  History  of  Mankind.  3  vols.  Lon. : 
Macmillan,    1896.     Ethnological. 

BRINTON,  D.  G.  Races  and  Peoples,  Lectures  on  the 
Science  of  Ethnography.     N.  Y. :  Hodges,  1890. 

HAKLUYT  SOCIETY  "for  the  purpose  of  printing  .  .  . 
the  most  rare  and  valuable  voyages,  travels  and  geographical 
records,  from  an  early  period  of  exploratory  enterprise."  Lon- 
don. Organized  1846.  Published  102  vols,  up  to  1899,  many 
of  them  invaluable  to  the  student  of  early  missions.  A  number 
written  by  early  missionaries  themselves.     (E.E.) 

PINKERTON.  A  General  Collection  of  Voyages  and 
Travels  in  All  Parts  of  the  World.  Lon. :  Longman,  1808- 
14.     17  vols,  quarto.     (E.E.) 

CHURCHILL.  Collection  of  Voyages  and  Travels.  Lon. : 
1732.     6  vols.     (E.E.) 

BLISS,  E.  M.,  Ed.  The  Encyclopaedia  of  Missions.  N.  Y. : 
Funk  &  Wagnalls,  1891.    2  vols.     ($12.00.) 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  457 

NEWCOMB,  H.,  Ed.  A  Cyclopedia  of  Missions.  N.  Y. : 
Scribner,  1854. 

SMITH  AND  WACE.  Dictionary  of  Christian  Biography. 
4  vols.  Bost. :  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1877.  ($24.00.)  The 
best  of  encyclopedic  helps  on  our  period. 

M'CLINTOCK,  J.,  and  STRONG,  J.  Cyclopedia  of  Bib- 
lical, Theological  and  Ecclesiastical  Literature.  10  vols.  N.  Y. : 
Harper's,  1867. 

ADDIS,  W.  E.,  and  ARNOLD,  T.  A  Catholic  Dictionary. 
Lon.:  Paul,  Trench,  Triibner  &  Co.,  1893.     ($2.50.) 

McCLURE,  E.  Historical  Church  Atlas.  Lon. :  S.  P.  C.  K., 
1897.     Maps  of  great  value. 

NEANDER,  A.  History  of  the  Christian  Religion  and 
Church.  6  vols.  ($18.00.)  Boston:  Crocker  &  Brewster, 
1872.    Gives  considerable  space  to  the  spread  of  Christianity. 

KURTZ,  J.  H.  Church  History.  3  vols.  N.  Y. :  Funk  & 
Wagnalls,  1889.  Thorough  and  concise  on  the  spread  of 
Christianity. 

NEWMAN,  A.  H.  A  Manual  of  Church  History.  Phila. : 
Amer.  Bap.  Pub.  Soc.     Vol.  I ;  pp.  639.     1900.     ($2.25.) 

ALZOG,  J.  Manual  of  Universal  Church  History.  3  vols. 
Cincinnati:  Robert  Clark  &  Co.,  1876.     (R.C) 

DITCHFIELD,  P.  H.  The  National  Churches.  8  vols. 
Lon. :  Wells,  Gardner,  Darton  &  Co.,  1891-95-  Germany,  Spain, 
Ireland,  Netherlands,  Italy,  Scotland,  France,  America.  Early 
chapters  on  our  period. 

WALSH,  W.  P.  Heroes  of  the  Mission  Field.  N.  Y. : 
Whittaker.  ($1.00.)  Twelve  heroes,  all  of  them  in  our 
period.     Excellent. 

Early. 

ROBERTS,  A.,  and  DONALDSON,  J.  Ante-Nicene  Chris- 
tian Library.  25  vols.  Edinb. :  T.  &  T.  Clark,  1867-97-  (E.E.) 
Same,  Scribner's,  10  vols.     ($40.00.) 


458  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF  MISSIONS. 

SCHAFF,  P.,  and  WACE,  H.  Select  Library  of  the  Nicene 
and  Post-Nicene  Fathers  of  the  Christian  Church.  28  vols. 
N.  Y. :  Christian  Literature  Co.,  1886-99.  (E.E.)  Same, 
Scribner's.      ($112.00.) 

FARRAR,  F.  W.  Lives  of  the  Fathers.  2  vols.  N.  Y. : 
Macmillan,    1889.      (E.E.E.) 

UHLHORN,  G.  Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathenism. 
N.  Y. :  Scribner's,   1879. 

MILMAN,  H.  H.  The  History  of  Christianity  from  the 
Birth  of  Christ  to  the  Abolition  of  Paganism  in  the  Roman 
Empire.     2  vols.     N.  Y. :  Armstrong. 

LIGHTFOOT,  I.  B.    Historical  Essays.  N.  Y. :  Macmillan. 

MOXOM,  P.  S.  From  Jerusalem  to  Nicea.  The  Church  in 
the  First  Three  Centuries.    Bost. :  Roberts,  1895.     ($i-SO.) 

Medieval. 

MACLEAR,  G.  F.  A  History  of  Christian  Missions  During 
the  Middle  Ages.    Lon. :  Macmillan,  1863.    452  pp. 

MACLEAR,  G.  F.  Apostles  of  Medieval  Europe.  Lon. : 
Macmillan,  1869.  ($1.80.)  Abridged  and  partly  rewritten 
from  his  History  of  Christian  Missions  During  the  Middle 
Ages. 

SMITH,  T.  Mediaeval  Missions.  Edinb. :  T.  &  T.  Clark, 
1880.    279  pp. 

JARVIS,  LUCY  C.  The  Planting  of  the  Church;  a  Com- 
pendium of  Missionary  History.  N.  Y. :  Pott  &  Co.,  1900. 
($1.00.)  Part  I,  Pre-Reformation  Missions  and  Missionaries. 
152  pp.    Good  lists  of  missionaries  and  movements. 

SUMMERS,  W.  H.  The  Rise  and  Spread  of  Christianity  in 
Europe.     N.  Y. :  Revell.     (40  cts.) 

MERIVALE,  C.  The  Conversion  of  the  Northern  Nations. 
N.  Y. :  Appleton.  1866.  Boyle  Lectures.  VI-VIII  directly  on 
the  subject.     Philosophy  of  the  process.     Diffuse. 

WYSE,  J.  A  Thousand  Years,  or  Mission  Centers  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

NEANDER,  A.    Memorials  of  Christian  Life  in  the  Early 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  459 

and  Middle  Ages.     Lon. :   Bohn,    1852.      ($1.00.)      Part   IV, 
Missions  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

HARDWICK,  CHAS.  A  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Middle  Age.  Lon.:  Macmillan,  1874.  ($4.20.)  Full  of  the 
"Growth  of  the  Church."     Maps. 

SCHAFF,  P.  History  of  the  Church.  6  vols.  N.  Y. :  Scrib- 
ner's,  1885.  ($24.00.)  Excellent  on  Conversion  of  the  North- 
ern and  Western  Barbarians,  pp.  17-142  of  Vol.  IV. 

TRENCH,  R.  C.  Lectures  on  Medieval  Church  History. 
N.  Y. :  Scribner's,  1878.  Chapters  on  the  conversion  of  Eng- 
land, Germany,  Monasticism  and  the  Mendicant  Orders. 

WOODHOUSE,  F.  C.  The  Military  Religious  Orders  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  Lon. :  Soc.  Prom.  Christian  Knowledge, 
1877. 

Mendicant  Orders. 

SABATIER,  P.  Life  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi.  N.  Y. : 
Scribner's,    1894. 

CIVEZZA,  P.  M.  DA.  Storia  Universale  delle  Missioni 
Francescane.  Roma,  Tibernia;  Prato,  Guasti ;  Firenze,  Ari- 
ana;  1857-1895.     11  vols.,  500  to  1,000  pp.  each. 

ANALECTA  FRANCISCANA  sive  Chronica  alique  varia 
documenta  at  lustariam  fratrum  minorum  spectantra  edita  a 
fratribus  collegii,  S.  Bonaventurae  adiurantibus  aliis  aliis  patri- 
bus  eiusdem  ordinus.  2  torn  Ad  Clares  Aquas  (Quaraacchi) 
1885-87.     (E.E.) 

WADDING,  L.,  and  continuations.  Annates  Minorum  scu 
trium  ordinum  a  S.  Francisco  Institutorum.  25  vols.  Rome, 
1731-1886.     Chief  source  as  to  Franciscans.     (E.E.E.) 

LEON.  Lives  of  the  Saints  and  Blessed  of  the  Three  Or- 
ders of  St.  Francis."  Lon. :  Burns  &  Oates.  4  vols.  (8s.  6d. 
each.) 

DRANE,  AUGUSTA  T.  Life  of  St.  Dominic.  Lon.: 
Burns  &  Oates.     (3s.) 

CURRIER,  C.  W.  History  of  Religious  Orders.  Boston: 
Macconnell  Bros.  &  Co.,  1896.     Pp.  684. 

WOODHOUSE,  F.  C.  Monasticism.  Lon. :  Gardner,  D. 
&  Co.,   1896.     409  pp. 


460  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Jesuits. 

LOCKMAN,  F.  Travels  of  the  Jesuits  Into  Various  Parts 
of  the  World.  Lon. :  John  Noon,  1743;  also  Boston:  T.  Piety, 
1762.    2  vols.     (E.E.) 

Travels  of  Several  Learned  Missionaries  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  Lon. :  R.  Gosling,  1714.  22  letters  from  India,  Indian 
Archipelago,  China  and  America.     (E.E.) 

KIP,  W.  I.  Historical  Scenes  from  the  Old  Jesuit  Mis- 
sions.   N.  Y. :  Randolph,  1875.     (E.E.) 

Instructive  and  Curious  Epistles  of  Jesuits.     (E.E.) 

McCLEAN,  M.  H.  Francis  Xavier.  Lon. :  Paul,  Trench, 
Triibner  &  Co.,  1895.  2  vols.  ($2.80.)  "The  story  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier's  life  and  work  ...  as  far  as  possible  in 
his  own  words."     (E.E.E.) 

COLERIDGE,  H.  J.  The  Life  and  Letters  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier.    Lon. :  Burns  &  Oates.    2  vols.     (10s.  6d.)     (E.E.E.) 

BONHOURS,  D.  The  Life  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  Phila. : 
Eugene  Cumminskey,   1841. 

CLEMENTS,  JAS.  History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  N.  Y. : 
Walsh,  1865.     2  vols.     Friendly.     16  sections  on  missions. 

B.  N.  The  Jesuits.  Lon. :  Burns  &  Oates,  1789.  2  vols. 
Friendly.     Chapters  14,  15,  19,  20,  22,  27,  28,  29  on  missions. 

NICOLINI,  G.  B.  History  of  the  Jesuits.  Lon.:  Bohn, 
1854.     Chapter  VII,  missions.    Hostile. 

STEINMETZ,  A.  History  of  the  Jesuits.  Lon. :  Bentley, 
1848.     3  vols.     Hostile.     Unindexed. 

Protestants. 

THOMPSON,  A.  C.  Protestant  Missions,  Their  Rise  and 
Early  Progress.  N.  Y. :  Scribner's,  1894.  ($1.75.)  Best  avail- 
able for  the  period  covered. 

WARNECK.  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Protestant  Mis- 
sions from  the  Reformation  to  the  Present  Time.  Edinb. : 
1884.     (1900?) 

GRAHAM,  J.  A.  Missionary  Expansion  Since  the  Reforma- 
tion. N.  Y. :  Revell,  1899.  244  pp.,  45  pp.  on  our  period.  Ex- 
cellent. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  461 

STORROW,  E.  Protestant  Missions  in  Pagan  Lands. 
Lon. :  Snow  &  Co.,  1888.     191  pp. ;  9  pp.  on  our  period. 

BROWN,  WM.  History  of  Missions  Among  the  Heathen 
Since  the  Reformation.  Phila. :  Cols,  1816;  2  vols.  3  vols. 
3d  edition  1864.  Vol.  I,  pp.  23-34,  Dutch;  35-154,  English- 
American;  155-282,  Danes;  283- Vol.  II,  116,  Moravians  by 
countries. 

LORD,  E.  A  Compendious  History  of  the  Principal  Prot- 
estant Missions  to  the  Heathen.  Bost. :  Samuel  Armstrong, 
1813.  2  vols.  Pp.  13-60,  Introduction,  review  by  centuries; 
pp.  61-165,  The  Danish  Missions,  valuable  for  its  letters  from 
Ziegenbalg  and  other  missionaries. 

SMITH,  T.,  and  CHOULES,  J.  O.  Origin  and  History  of 
Missions.  Bost. :  Walker,  1832.  2  vols,  folio ;  8th  edition 
1846.  Pp.  1-10  by  centuries;  41-182  Moravians  by  countries. 
Last  7  pp.  R.  C. 

CHARTERIS,  A.  H.  The  Dawn  of  the  Modern  Mission. 
N.  Y. :  Armstrong,  1888.     160  pp.  on  our  period. 

LEONARD,  D.  L.  A  Hundred  Years  of  Missions.  N.  Y. : 
Funk  &  Wagnalls,  1895.     ($1.50.)     Pp.  12-68  on'our  period. 

SMITH,  A.  M.  Brief  History  of  Evangelical  Missions. 
Hartford :  Robins  &  Smith,   1844.     37  pp.  on  our  period. 

LOVETT,  R.  A  Primer  of  Modern  British  Missions. 
N.  Y. :  Revell.    160  pp. 

LAURY,  P.  A.  A  History  of  Lutheran  Missions.  Reading, 
Pa. :  Pilger,  1899.  265  pp.,  65  on  our  period.  India,  Finland, 
Greenland. 

YONGE,  C  M.  Pioneers  and  Founders.  Lon.  and  N.  Y. : 
Macmillan,  1871. 

CARNE,  JOHN.  Lives  of  Eminent  Missionaries.  Lon. : 
Fisher,   1833.     Eliot,  Danish  and  Moravian  Missionaries. 

CREEGAN,  C.  C,  and  GOODNOW,  J.  A.  B.  Great  Mis- 
sionaries of  the  Church.     N.  Y. :  Crowell  &  Co.,  1895. 

CAMPBELL,  J.  Maritime  Discovery  and  Christian  Mis- 
sions.    Lon. :  Snow,  1840. 


462  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Moravians. 

Periodical  Accounts  Relating  to  the  Missions  of  the  Church 
of  the  United  Brethren  Established  Among  the  Heathen.  Lon. : 
Brethren's  Society  for  the  Furtherance  of  the  Gospel.  6  -#ols. 
1790-1814.     (E.E.) 

HOLMES,  J.  Historical  Sketches  of  the  Missions  of  the 
United  Brethren  Among  the  Heathen.  Dublin :  Napper, 
1818.     (E.E.E.) 

THOMPSON,  A.  C.  Moravian  Missions,  Twelve  Lectures. 
N.  Y. :  Scribner's,  1882.  ($2.00.)  Bibliography,  pp.  491-510. 
Best  available  for  general  use. 

Missions-Atlas  der  Bruder-gemeine.  Seclozen  Karten  mit 
Text.  Herausgegeben  von  der  Missions  direktion  der  Evan- 
gelischen  Bruder-Unitat.  Herrnhut.  Expedition  der  Mis- 
sionsverwaltung,  1895. 

HAMILTON,  J.  T.  The  Missionary  Manual  and  Directory 
of  the  Unitas  Fratrum  or  the  Moravian  Church.  Bethlehem, 
Pa. :  Moravian  Pub.  Office,  1892.     3d  edition  60  pp. 

SCHWEINITZ,  EDM.  DE.  Some  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Moravian  Church.     Bethlehem  :   1882. 

SPANGENBERG,  A.  G.  Life  of  Count  Zinzendorf.  Trans- 
lated and  abridged  by  Samuel  Jackson.  Lon. :  Sam.  Holds- 
worth,  1858.     511  pp. 

CRANZ,  D.  The  Ancient  and  Modem  History  of  the 
Brethren.     Lon. :  W.  A.  Strahan,  1780.     Pp.  620.     Index. 

BOST,  A.  History  of  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian  Breth- 
ren.   Lon. :  Religious  Tract  Society. 

Chapter  I. — Ethnic  Movements  Missionary, 

FISHER,  G.  P.  The  Beginnings  of  Christianity.  N.  Y.: 
Scribner's,  1893.     ($2.50.) 

DOELLINGER,  J.  J.  I.  The  Gentile  and  the  Jew  in  the 
Courts  of  the  Temple  of  Christ.  Translated  by  N.  Darnell. 
2  vols.    Lon. :  Longman,  1862. 

PRESSENSE,  E.  D.  The  Ancient  World  and  Christianity. 
N.  Y. :  Armstrong,  1888. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  463 

MERTVALE.  C.  The  Conversion  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
N.  Y. :  Appleton,  1865.  Boyle  Lectures.  Heathen  thought 
reaching  upward. 

SUPER,  C.  W.  Between  Heathenism  and  Christianity.  A 
translation  of  Seneca's  De  Providentia,  Plutarch's  De  Sera 
Numinis  Vindicta  and  other  best  thoughts  of  heathenism. 
(E.E.) 

FARRAR,  F.  W.  Seekers  After  God.  Seneca,  Epictetus 
and  Marcus  Aurelius.     N.  Y. :  Macmillan,  1879. 

EDKINS,  J.  The  Early  Spread  of  Religious  Ideas,  Espe- 
cially in  the  Far  East.     N.  Y. :  Revell.     144  pp.     (90  cts.) 

STORRS,  R.  S.  The  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity  Indi- 
cated by  Its  Historical  Effects.  N.  Y. :  Randolph,  1886. 
(E.E.E.)      ($2.00.) 

BRACE,  C.  L.  Gesta  Christi;  or,  A  History  of  Humane 
Progress  Under  Christianity.  N.  Y.  :  Armstrong,  1883.  ($1.50.) 
Standard  Church  Histories,  opening  sections. 

Chapter  II. — Messianic  Race  Missionary. 

GOODSPEED,  G.  S.  Israel's  Messianic  Hope  to  the  Time 
of  Jesus.    N.  Y. :  Macmillan,  1900.     ($1.50.) 

YONGE,  C.  D.  The  Works  of  Philo  Judaexts  the  Contem- 
porary of  Josephus  Translated  from  the  Greek.  Lon. :  Bohn, 
1854.     4  vols.     (E.E.) 

DRUMMOND,  JAS.  Philo  Judaeus;  or.  The  Jewish-Alex- 
andrian Philosophy  in  Its  Development  and  Completion.  Lon. : 
Williams  &  Norgate,  1888.     2  vols. 

BIGG,  C.  The  Christum  Platonists  of  Alexandria.  Oxford: 
Clarendon  Press,  1896.     Bampton  Lectures. 

LOHR,  M.  Der  Missionsgedanke  in  Alten  Testament. 
Leipzig:  Mohr,   1900. 

MERIVALE,  C  St.  Paul  at  Rome.  N.  Y. :  Pott,  Young 
&  Co.     Chapter  I  shows  influence  of  the  Jews  at  Rome. 

HUDSON.  History  of  the  Jews  in  Rome.  Lon.  :  2d  edi- 
tion, 1884.     394  pp. 

SAYCE,  A.  H.  Early  Israel  and  the  Surrounding  Nations. 
1889.     Lon. :  Service  &  Paton,  1899. 


464  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

WILLRICH,  H.  Juden  und  Griechen  vor  dcr  makkabai- 
schen  Erhebung.  Gottingen :  Dandenhaeck  und  Ruprecht, 
1895.     176  pp. 

Chapter  III. — Messiah  Missionary. 

The  Twentieth  Century  New  Testament,  a  Translation 
Into  Modem  English,  Made  from  the  Original  Greek  (West- 
cott  and  Hort's  Text),  in  Two  Parts.  Part  I — The  Five  His- 
torical Books.     N.  Y. :  Revell,  1898.     (E.E.)     (50  cts.) 

STEVENS,  W.  A.  and  BURTON,  E.  D.  Harmony  of  the 
Gospels  for  Historical  Study.  Bost. :  Silver,  Burdett  &  Co., 
1899.      (75  cts.)      (E.E.) 

The  New  Testament.  Revised  Version  by  Drs.  Hovey, 
Weston  and  Broadus.  Phila. :  Am.  Bapt.  Pub.  Soc.  (30  cts.) 
(E.E.) 

RHEES,  RUSH.  The  Life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth;  A  Study. 
N.  Y. :    Scribner's  Sons,  1900.     ($1.25.) 

BEACH,  H.  P.  New  Testament  Studies  in  Missions. 
N.  Y. :  The  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  1900. 

MATHEWS,  S.  A  History  of  New  Testament  Times  in 
Palestine.     N.  Y. :  Macmillan,  1899.     (75  cts.) 

Standard  Lives  of  Christ. 

Chapter  IV. — Syria. 

BURTON,  E.  D.  The  Records  and  Letters  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Age.     N.  Y. :  Scribner's.  1895-     (E.E.)     ($1.50.) 

EUSEBIUS  and  SOZOMEN.  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene 
Fathers.      (E.E.E.) 

FARRAR,  F.  W.  The  Early  Days  of  Christianity.  N.  Y. : 
Funk  &  Wagnalls,   1883.     (75  cts.) 

NEANDER,  A.  History  of  the  Planting  and  Training  of 
the  Christian  Church.     N.  Y.  :   Sheldon,   1865. 

PRESSENSE,  E.  DE.  The  Early  Years  of  Christianity. 
N.  Y. :  Scribner's,  1871. 

Chapter  V. — Asia  Minor. 
PLINY  THE  YOUNGER.    Letters  of  the  Younger  Fliny. 


SELECTE]  iGRAPHY.  65 

Lon. :    Triibner,  1S79.     Translated  by  J.  D.  Lewis.     (E.E.) 

JUSTIN  MARTYR.     A.-N.  L.     (E.E.) 

RAMSAY,  W.  M.  The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire 
Before  A.  D.  170.     Lon. :  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1893. 

RAMSAY,  W.  M.  St.  Paul  the  Traveller.  N.  Y.rPutnam, 
1895.     ($3-00.) 

TAYLOR,  W.  M.  Paul  the  Missionary.  N.  Y. :  Harper, 
1882. 

Standard  Lives  of  Paul. 

References  of  preceding  chapter. 

Chapter  VI. — Persia. 

Syriac  Documents.     A.-N.  L.     (E.E.) 

SOZOMEN.  Ecclesiastical  History.  N.  and  P.-N.  F. 
Book  II,  Chaps.  7-15,  on  Christianity  in  Persia.     (E.E.E.) 

ASSEMANI,  G.  S.  Bibliothcca  Orientalis  Clementino- 
Valicana,  in  qua  Manuscriptos  Codices  Syriacos,  Arabicas, 
Persicas,  Turcicos,  etc.  .  .  .  Ex  Oricnte  Conquisitas  Com- 
paratas,  etc.  Romae  Typis  Sacrae  Congregationes  de  Propa- 
ganda Fide.   1722-1728.  4  vols.,  quarto,  700  pp.  each.     (E.E.E.) 

GIBBON,  E.  The  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Phila. :  Porter  &  Coates.  Nestorian  Mis- 
sions, Chapter  XLYII. 

YEATES,  T.  Indian  Church  History,  Syria,  Mesopotamia, 
India  and  China.  Lon.  :  Maxwell,  1818.  Useful  summary  of 
traditions  as  to  Persia. 

RAE,  G.  M.     The  Syrian  Church  in  India.     Edinb.  :  1892. 

ST.  CLAIR-T1SDALE,  W.  The  Conversion  of  Armenia 
to  the  Christian  Faith.     N.  Y.  :  Revell.     ($1.40.) 

GREGOR,  N.  T.     History  of  Armenia.     Lon. :  Heywood, 

1897. 

MALAN,  S.  C.  St.  Gregory  the  Illuminator.  Lon.:  Riving- 
ton,    1868. 

ISSAVERDEUS,  J.  Armenia  and  ihe  Armenians.  Venice: 
Armenian  Monastery  of  St.  Lazarus,  1874. 


406  TWO   THOUSAND   YEARS  OF    MISSIONS. 

Chapter  VII. — India. 

SMITH,  G.  The  Conversion  of  India.  N.  Y. :  Revell. 
($1.50.)      (E.E.E.) 

HAYE,  J.  W.  Christianity  in  India.  Lon.  :  Smith,  Elder 
&  Co.,  1859- 

HOUGH,  J.  The  History  of  Christianity  in  India.  Lon. : 
Sealey  &  Burnside,  1839.  Also  Nisbet,  1849.  5  vols.,  600  pp. 
each.     First  three  previous  to  1800. 

COSMAS,  INDICOPLEUSTES.  Christian  Topography. 
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WREDE,  F.  St.  Thome  Christians  on  the  Coast  of  Mala- 
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GIBBON,  E.  Roman  Empire.  Chapter  XLVII  on  the 
Nestorians. 

JORDANUS,  FRIAR.  The  Wonders  of  the  East.  1330. 
Lon.:  Hakluyt  Soc,  1863.      (E.E.) 

D'ORSEY,  A.  J.  D.  Portuguese  Discoveries,  Dependencies 
and   Missions  in   Asia  and   Africa.      1893.     Authorities,    pp. 

379-384- 

MALLESON,  G.  B.  Akbar  and  the  Rise  of  the  Mughal 
Empire.     1896. 

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gul.    1615-19.     Lon.:  Hakluyt  Soc,  1899.    2  vols.     (E.E.) 

ZIEGENBALG,  B.,  and  others.  Thirty-four  Conferences 
Between  the  Danish  Missionaries  and  the  Malabarian  Bra- 
mans.     Lon.:  H.  Clements,  1719.     (E.E.) 

ZIEGENBALG,  B.,  and  GRUNDLER,  J.  E.  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  the  East;  Being  an  Account  of  the  Success 
of  Two  Danish  Missionaries,  Lately  Sent  to  the  East  Indies. 
Lon. :  Joseph  Downing,  1718.  Contains  also  An  account  of  the 
Malabarians.    58  letters  in  all.     (E.E.) 

GRINFIELD,  E.  W.  Sketches  of  the  Danish  Mission  on 
the  Coast  of  Coromandel.    Lon. :  Rivington.  1831. 

SHERRING,  M,  A.,  and  STORROW,  E.     The  History  of 


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Tract  Soc,  1884.     ($1.50.) 

PEARSON,  H.  Memoirs  of  the  Rev.  Christian  Frederick 
Swartz.    Bost.  and  Phila. :  Perkins,  1835.    411  pp. 

STAVORINUS,  ADMIRAL.  Voyages.  Translated  by 
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CALLENBACH,  J.  R.  Justus  Heurnius,  eene  bijdrage  tot 
geschiedenis  dcs  Christendanzs  in  X edcrlandsch  Oost-Indie. 
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BROWN'S  History  of  Missions,  as  to  Dutch. 

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Chapters  VIII  and  IX.— China  and  Tatary. 

LEGGE,  J.  Christianity  in  China;  Nestorianism,  Roman 
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65  pp.  The  Nestorian  Monument  of  Hsi-an  Fu,  text,  transla- 
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YULE.  H.  Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither;  Being  a  Collec- 
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2  vols.  Invaluable  collection  of  earliest  extant  accounts, 
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HUC,  ABBE.  Christianity  in  China.  Tartars  and  Thibet. 
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mans, 1857.  3  vols.  Next  to  Yule  in  value.  Embodies  many 
of  the  earliest  extant  accounts.     (E.E.E.) 

MOSHEIM.  Authentic  Memoirs  of  the  Christian  Church 
in  China.     Edited  by  R.  Gibbings.    Dublin:  1862. 

POLO,  MARCO.  The  Book  of  Sir  Marco  Polo.  Translated 
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MENDOZA,  JUAN  G.  DE.  Translated  by  R.  Parke.  The 
Historic  of  the  Great  and  Mightic  Kingdome  of  China.  Lon.  : 
Wolfe,  1588.    Reprinted  by  Hakluyt  Soc,  1853.    2  vols.    (E.E.) 

LOCKMAN,  F.  Travels  of  the  Jesuits  Into  Carious  Parts 
of  the  World.  Post.:  T.  Piety,  1762.  2  vols.  Particularly 
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468  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

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WILLIAMS,  S.  W.  The  Middle  Kingdom.  N.  Y. :  Scrib- 
ner's,  1899.  ($9.00.)  2  vols.  Vol.  II,  pp.  275-306,  our  period. 
Excellent. 

JENKINS,  ROBERT  C.  The  Jesuits  in  China.  Attempt 
at  Impartial  Judgment.  Lon. :  Nutt,  1894.  ($2.00.)  Contro- 
versy on  the  Chinese  Rites  examined  from  the  sources  by  a 
Protestant,   pp.    165. 

Memorie  Stariche  dell'  Eminentiss.  Monsignor  Cardinale  de 
Taurnon,  eposte  con  monumenti  rari  ed  autcntici  uon  piu 
data  alia  luce.  Venice:  Giuseppe  Bettinelli,  1761-62.  Eight 
small  8vo  volumes,  the  original  documents  of  the  Chinese 
Rites  controversy.      (E.E.) 

Chapter  X. — Philippine  Islands, 

PIGAFETTA,  A.  The  First  Voyage  Round  the  World, 
Effected  in  the  Years  1519-22  by  the  Chevalier  Pigafetta  on 
Board  the  Squadron  of  Magellan.  In  Pinkerton's  Voyages 
and  Travels.  Lon. :  Longman's,  1812,  Vol.  II.  Also  in  Hakluyt 
Series.      (E.E.) 

ANTONIO  DE  MORGA.  The  Philippine  Islands,  Moluc- 
cas, Siam,  Cambodia,  Japan  and  China  at  the  Close  of  the 
Sixteenth  Century.  Translated  by  H.  E.  J.  Stanley.  Lon. : 
Hakluyt  Society,  1868.  Originally  published  City  of  Mexico, 
1609.    Invaluable  source  as  to  early  missions.     (E.E.) 

WALTER,  R.  A  Voyage  Round  the  World  in  the  Years 
1741-44  by  Geo.  Anson,  Esq.,  Nozv  Lord  Anson.  Lon. :  Browne, 
1756.    Quarto.    Same,  i6mo.    Dublin :  Crooks,  1819.     (E.E.) 

DELGADO,  J.  J.  Historia  General  Sacro-Profana,  Politica 
y  Natural  de  las  Has  del  Poniente  Llamadas  Filipinos.  Ma- 
nila :  Juan  Atayde,  1892.  Vol.  I,  "Biblioteca  Historica  Fili- 
pina,"  943  pp. 

INES,  F.  F.  DE  S.  Cronica  de  la  Provincia  de  San  Grc- 
gario  Magno  de  Religiosas  descalzos  de  N.  S.  P.  San  Fran- 
cisco en  Islas  Filipinos,  China,  Japan,  etc.    Leetor  de  Sagrada 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  469 

Teologia  y  Cronista  de  la  misma  Provincia  en  1676.  Manila : 
Tipo  Lithograpluo  de  Chofre  y  Comp.,  1892.  ($5-95-)  Vols. 
II  and  III,  "Biblioteca  Histonca  Filipina."  712  and  702  pp. 
(E.E.E.) 

EVCMO.  Memoria  acerea  de  las  Missiones  de  las  P.  P. 
Augnstinos  calcados  en  las  Islas  Filipinos.  Madrid:  Imprenta 
de  Olejandro  Gomez  Fuentenebro,  1880. 

GASPAR.  Conquistas  de  las  Has  Philipinas;  temporal  y  la 
espiritual  par  las  religiosas  orden  de  san  Augustin.  Madrid: 
Ruiz  de  Murga,   1698. 

FUENTE,  V.  Obras  del  Padre  Pedro  de  Broadeneira,  de 
la  Compania  de  Jesus.  Madrid:  Rivadeneyra.  Biblioteca  de 
Aulares  Espanoles,  1868. 

MEDINA,  J.  T.  Bibliographia  Espanola  de  las  Islas  Filipi- 
nos (1528-1810).  Santiago  de  Chile:  Cervantes,  1897.  666 
titles. 

MENDOZA,  J.  G.  Two  volumes  on  Missions  from  the 
Philippines  to  China.     See  literature  under  China.     (E.E.) 

CROZET.  Voyage  to  Tasmania,  New  Zealand,  the  Ladrone 
Islands  and  the  Philippines  in  the  Years  1771-1772,  Trans- 
lated by  H.  Ling  Roth.  Lon. :  Truelove  &  Shirley,  1891.  Good 
on  the  Ladrones    (E.E.) 

WORCESTER,  D.  C.  The  Philippine  Islands  and  Their 
People.     N.  Y. :     Macmillan,  1898.     Chap.  1. 

FOREMAN,  JOHN.  The  Philippine  Islands.  Lon. :  Low, 
Marston  &  Co.     1899     Chap.  VIII. 

BUTTERWORTH,   H.     The  Story   of  Magellan   and   the 
Discovery  of  the  Philippines.    N.  Y. :    Appleton,  1899.    ($1.50.) 
BOWRING,    SIR  JOHN.     A    Visit  to   the  Philippine  Isl- 
ands.    Lon. :    Smith,  Elda  &  Co.,  1859.     Chap.  XII.,  "Ecclesi- 
astical Authority." 

MEYER,  A.  B.  The  Distribution  of  the  Negritos  in  the 
Philippine  Islands  and  Elsewhere.  Dresden:  Stengel  &  Co., 
1899.     18  pp.  on  Philippines. 

COLEMAN,  A.  O.  P.  The  Friars  in  the  Philippines.  Bos- 
ton: Marler,  Callahan  &  Co.,  1899.  A  defense  of  the  religious 
orders.     Not  thorough.      (Paper,  _>;,  cents.) 


470  TWO  THOUSAND   YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Chapter  XL — Japan. 

CADDELL,  C.  M.  History  of  the  Missions  in  Japan.  N. 
Y. :    P.  J.  Kennedy. 

BROECKAERT,  J.  Life  of  the  Blessed  Charles  Spinola, 
with  a  sketch  of  the  Other  Japanese  Martyrs.  N.  Y. :  Kennedy, 
1899.     (45  cents.) 

WILBERFORCE,  B.  A.  Dominican  Missions  and  Martyrs 
in  Japan.  Lon. :  Art  &  Book  Co. ;  also,  Catholic  Truth  Soc, 
1897.     Pp.  186.     (60  cents.) 

KENNERS,  E.  A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Lives  and  Martyr- 
dom of  the  Franciscan  Saints  Canonised  by  Pope  Pius  the 
Ninth. 

NITOBE,  I.  The  Intercourse  Between  the  U.  S.  and  Ja- 
pan.    Baltimore :  Johns  Hopkins  Press,  1891. 

CHAMBERLIN,  B.  H.  Things  Japanese.  Lon.:  Kegen, 
Paul,  Trench,  Trubner  &  Co.,  1891. 

GRIFFIS,  W.  E.  The  Religions  of  Japan.  N.  Y. :  Scrib- 
ner's,  1895.     ($2.00.) 

GRIFFIS,  W.  E.  The  Mikado's  Empire.  N.  Y. :  Harper, 
1894. 

MURRAY,  D.     The    Story    of    Japan.     N.  Y. :   Putnam's, 

1894- 

CAMPBELL,  WM.  An  Account  of  the  Missionary  Success 
in  the  Island  of  Formosa,  Published  in  London  in  1650  and 
Now  Reprinted  with  Copious  Appendices.  Lon. :  Trubner, 
1889.     2  vols.     ($4.00.)     (E.  E.  E.) 

Chapter  XII — Egypt  and  Abyssinia. 

CLEMENT  and  ORIGEN.     A-N.  L.     (E.  E.) 

NOBLE,  F.  P.  The  Redemption  of  Africa.  2  vols.  N.Y. : 
Revell,  1899.     ($4.00.)      (This  and  next  three  on  all  Africa.) 

LYDE,  L.  W.  A  Geography  of  Africa.  Lon.:  A.  &  C. 
Black,  1899.     112  pp.     Much  in  little.     No  maps. 

JOHNSTON,  H.  H.  A  History  of  the  Colonization  of  Af- 
rica by  Alien  Races.  Cambridge,  Eng. :  University  Press, 
1899.  Pp.  146-8,  Concise  Summary  of  Missions  Before  1800. 
Excellent  maps. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  47 1 

WHITE,  A.  S.  The  Development  of  Africa.  Lon. :  Philip 
&  Son,  1890. 

SHARP,  S.  History  of  Egypt.  Lon. :  Bell  &  Sons,  1876. 
Vol.  II.,  B.  C.  116— A.  D.  640. 

CHANDLER,  R.  Abyssinia,  Mythical  and  Historical 
Lon. :  Skeet. 

JOHNSTON,  C  Notices  of  Abyssinia  as  Historically 
Connected  with  Europe,  Syria  and  the  Holy  Land.  Lon.: 
Ainsworth,  1845. 

Chapter  XIII.— North  and  West  Africa. 

CYPRIAN,  TERTULLIAN  and  ARNOBIUS.  A-N.  L. 
(E.  E.) 

POOLE,  G.  A.  The  Life  and  Times  of  St.  Cyprian.  Lon. : 
Rivington,   1840. 

HEARD,  J.  B.  Alexandrian  and  Carthagenian  Theology 
Contrasted.     Edin. :  T.  &  T.  Clark,  1893.     Hulsean  Lectures. 

CHURCH  CLUB.  History  and  Teachings  of  the  Early 
Church.  N.  Y. :  Young,  1889.  Lecture  III.,  "North  African 
Church."     Lecture  IV.,  "School  of  Alexandria." 

HOLME,  L.  R.  The  Extinction  of  the  Christian  Churches 
in  North  Africa.     Lon. :  Clay  &  Sons,  1898. 

WHITE,  A.  S.  Development  of  Africa.  Lon.:  Philip  & 
Son,  1890.     Chap.  V.,  Islam  and  Christianity. 

BARNES,  L.  C.  Shall  Islam  Rule  Africa ?  Bost. :  Am. 
Bapt.  Missionary  Union,  1890. 

SMITH,  G.  Twelve  Pioneer  Missionaries.  Lon. :  Thomas 
Nelson  &  Sons,  1900.    Raymond  Lull,  on  our  period,  pp.  13-38. 

BONTIER  (B.)  and  VERRIER  (J.).  The  Canarian. 
Lon:.  Hakluyt  Soc,  1872.     (E.  E.) 

BEAZLEY,  C.  R.  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator.  The  Hero 
of  Portugal  and  of  Modem  Discovery.  1394-1460.  A.  D.  N. 
Y. :  Putnams,  1895.       (E.  E.  E.) 

AZURARA,  G.  E.  DE.  The  Chronicle  of  the  Discovery  and 
Conquest  of  Guinea.  Lon.:  Hakluyt  Soc,  1896-1899.  2  vols. 
Written  1450.     (E.  E.) 


47  2 


TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 


THOMPSON,  T.  Memoirs  of  an  English  Missionary  to 
the  Coast  of  Guinea,  Who  Went  There  for  the  Sole  Purpose  of 
Converting  the  Negroes.  Lon. :  Shepperson  &  Reynolds,  1788. 
30  pp.     (E  .E.) 

TRACY,  J.  A  Historical  Examination  of  the  State  of  So- 
ciety in  Western  Africa,  and  of  the  Remedial  Influence  of  Col- 
onization and  Missions.     Bost. :  Marvin,  1846. 

LIVINGSTONE,  D.  Missionary  Travels  and  Researches. 
1858.     Expedition  to  Zambesi.     N.  Y. :  Harpers,  1866. 

COUSINS,  W.  E.  Madagascar  of  Today.  N.  Y. :  Revell. 
159  pp.     Two  paragraphs  on  our  period. 

Chapter  XIV. — South  Africa. 

THEAL,  G.  M.  History  of  South  Africa.  Lon. :  Sonnen- 
schein,  1888.     Vols.  I.  and  II.  from  i486  to  1795. 

M'CARTER,  J.  The  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  South 
Africa.     Edin. :  1869. 

Literature  on  Moravian  Missions. 

Chapter  XV. — Greece  and  Italy. 

BURTON,  E.  D.  The  Records  and  Letters  of  the  Apostolic 
Age.     N.  Y. :  Scribners,  1895-     (E.  E.)      ($1.50.) 

TAFEL.  Dc  Thessalonica  ej usque  agro  Dissertatio  Geo- 
graphica.     Berlin:  1839.     (E.  E.  E.) 

BURTON,  E.  D.  The  Politarchs  in  Macedonia  and  Else- 
where. Chic. :  Reprinted  from  the  Am.  Journal  of  Theology, 
July,  1898.     (E.  E.  E.) 

TEXIER  and  PULLAN.  Byzantine  Architecture.  Lon. : 
Day  &  Son,  1864.     Pp.  111-154  on  Salonica. 

H/\RE,  A.  H.  Eighteen  Centuries  of  the  Orthodox  Greek 
Church.     Parker  &  Co..  1889. 

FELTON,  C.  C.  Greece,  Ancient  and  Modern.  Bost: 
Ticknor  &  Fields,  1867. 

BIKELAS,  D.  Seven  Essays  on  Christian  Greece.  Alex- 
ander Gardner,  1890.      1  vol.,  pp.  298. 

ARISTIDES.     A-N.  L.     (E.  E.) 

The  Standard  Lives  of  Paul. 

The  same  literature  as  on  chapters  IV.  and  V. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  473 

REMINGTON,  A.  R.  The  Church  in  Italy.  Lon. :  Gard- 
ner, Dalton  &  Co.,  1893. 

MERIVALE,  C.  St.  Paul  at  Rome.  N.  Y. :  Pott,  Young 
&Co. 

FARRAR,  F.  W.  Darkness  and  Dawn,  Scenes  in  the  Days 
of  Nero.     N.  Y. :  Longmans,  1891. 

LANCIANI.  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome.  Chap.  VII., 
Catacombs.     Boston :     Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1893. 

TACITUS.  Works  of,  The  Oxford  Translation  Revised. 
N.  Y.  :  Harpers.  1895-     (E.  E.) 

JUSTIN  MARTYR.     A-N.  L.     (E.  E.) 

TATIAN.    A-N.  L.     (E.  E.) 

Chapter  XVI. — Spain  and  France. 

See  literature  on  Medieval  period. 

MEYRICK,  FREDERICK.  The  Church  in  Spain.  Lon.: 
Gardner,  Darton  &  Co.,  1892. 

SMITH.  R.  T.  The  Church  in  France.  Lon. :  Gardner, 
Darton  &  Co.,  1894. 

Chapter  XVII. — Britain,  Ireland  and  Scotland. 

HADDON  (A.  W.)  and  STUBBS  (W.).  Councils  and 
Ecclesiastical  Documents  Relating  to  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land.   Oxford:   Clarendon  Press,  1896-98.     (E.E.) 

MACLEAR,  G.  F.  Conversion  of  the  West.  The  Celts. 
Lon.:  S.  P.  C.  K.     (80  cents.) 

BROWNE,  G.  F.  The  Christian  Church  in  These  Islands 
Before  the  Coming  of  Augustine.     Lon. :  S.  P.  C.  K.,  1894. 

HALE,  C.     Early  Missions  to  and  Within  British  Islands. 

CATCHCART,  WM.  The  Ancient  British  and  Irish 
Churches,  Including  the  Labors  of  St.  Patrick.  Phila. :  Am. 
Baptist  Publication  Soc,  1894.     ($1.50.)      (E.  E.  E.) 

TODD.  \V.  G.  The  Church  of  St.  Patrick  and  History  of 
the  Ancient  Church  of  Ireland.     Lon. :  1845. 


474  Tw0   THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

O'LEARY,  J.  The  Life  of  St.  Patrick.  N.  Y. :  Kennedy. 
The  writings  and  the  early  Lives  of  Patrick.     (E.  E.) 

GRADWELL,  R.  Succat:  The  Story  of  Sixty  Years  of 
the  Life  of  St.  Patrick.  Lon. :  Burns  &  Oates.  (5s.)  "Con- 
signor Gradwell  has  treated  his  subject  from  a  novel  point  of 
view.  ...  In  the  first  place,  he  has  chosen  a  portion  only 
of  the  life  of  St.  Patrick.  Again,  he  has  attempted  to  exhibit 
him  in  the  light  in  which  he  was  seen  by  his  contemporaries." 

O'FARRELL,  M.  J.  A  Popular  Life  of  St.  Patrick.  N. 
Y. :    Kennedy,  1863.     (60  cents.)     380  pp. 

CHARLES,  MRS.  R.  Early  Christian  Missions  of  Ireland, 
Scotland  and  England.     Lon. :  S.  P.  C.  K,  1892. 

REEVES,  W.  Life  of  St.  Columba,  Founder  of  Hy.  Writ- 
ten by  Adamnan,  Ninth  Abbot  of  That  Monastery.  Edin. : 
Edmonston  &  Douglas,  1874.  Vol.  VI.  in  "The  Historians  of 
Scotland."     (E.  E.) 

FORBES,  A.  P.  Lives  of  St.  Ninian  and  St.  Kentigern, 
Compiled  in  the  Twelfth  Century.  Edin.  :  Edminston  &  Doug- 
las, 1874.     Vol.  V.  in  "The  Historians  of  Scotland."     (E.  E.) 

LUCKOCK,  H.  M.  The  Church  in  Scotland.  Lon. :  Gard- 
ner, Darton  &  Co.,  1893. 

Chapter  XVIIL — England. 

MASON,  A.  J.  The  Mission  of  St.  Augustine  to  England 
According  to  the  Original  Documents.  Cambridge :  Univer- 
sity Press,  1897.  252  pp.     (E.  E.) 

GILES,  J.  A.  The  Miscellaneous  Works  of  Venerable 
Bcdc,  In  the  Original  Latin,  .  .  .  Accompanied  by  a  Nezv 
English  Translation.     Lon. :  Whittaker,  1843.     6  vols.     (E.  E.) 

BEDE,  THE  VENERABLE.  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
England,  and  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle.  Lon. :  Bell  &  Sons, 
1887.     (Bohn.)      ($1.50.)      (E.E.) 

MACLEAR,  G.  F.  Conversion  of  the  West.  The  English. 
Lon.  :  S.  P.  C.  K.     (80  cents.) 

HUNT,  WM.     The  English  Church  From  Its  Foundation  to 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  475 

the  Norman  Conquest.     Lon. :  Macmillan,  1899.     444  pp.     222 
on  our  period  clear  and  admirable. 

MONTALEMBERT.  the  Monies  of  the  West.  Edinb. : 
Biackwood,  1861.     Vols.  II. -V. 

LINGARD,  J.  Antiquities  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church. 
Phila.  :  Fithian,  1841.  Pp.  17-39  Missions  to  the  A-S.  Pp. 
258-268  Missions  of  the  A-S. 

GREEN,  J.  R.  A  Short  History  of  the  English  People.  N. 
Y. :  Harpers,  1877.     ($1.20.) 

FREEMAN,  E.  A.  Old  English  History.  Lon. :  Macmil- 
lan, 1890.     Chap.  VI.,  "How  the  English  Became  Christians." 

COLLINS,  W.  E.  The  Beginnings  of  English  Christianity, 
with  Special  Reference  to  the  Coming  of  St.  Augustine.  Lon. : 
Methuen  &  Co.,  1898.     209  pp. 

CHARLES,  MRS.  E.  R.  Sketches  of  Christian  Life  in 
England  in  the  Olden  Time.  N.  Y. :  Tibbals  &  Whiting,  1865. 
210  pp.  on  our  period. 

Chapter  XIX. — Germanic  Regions. 

See  literature  on  Medieval  period. 

BALG,  G.  H.  The  First  Germanic  Bible  Translated  from 
the  Greek  by  the  Gothic  Bishop  Wulfila  in  the  Fourth  Century, 
and  Other  Remains  of  the  Gothic  Literature.  Milwaukee, 
Wis.  :  G.  H.  Balg,  1891.  469  pp.,  containing  a  sketch  of  the 
life  of  Wulfila.     (E.  E.) 

SCOTT,  C.  A.     UlUlas,  the  Apostle  of  the  Goths.     1885. 

MERIVALE,  C.  Conversion  of  the  West.  Continental 
Teutons.     Lon.:  S.  P.  C.  K.,  1879-     (80  cents.) 

BARING-GOULD,  S.  The  Church  of  Germany.  Lon.: 
Gardner,  Darton  &  Co.,  1891. 

MEYRICK,  T.  (S.  J.)  Life  of  St.  Walburge.  Lon. :  Burns 
&  Oates.     (2s.) 

VAN   DYKE,   H.     The  First  Christmas   Tree.     Scribners, 

1897-     C$i-  50.) 

DITCH  FIELD,  P.  H.  The  Church  in  the  Netherlands. 
Lon. :  Gardner,  Darton  &  Co.,  1893. 

MEYRICK,  T.  (S.  J.)     Life  nd.  Lon.:  Burns 

&  Oates.     (2s.) 


476  TWO  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   MISSIONS. 

Chapter  XX. — Scandinavian  and  Slavonic  Regions. 

SNORRE  STURLASON.  The  Heimskringla;  or,  The 
Sagas  of  the  Norse  Kings.  Translated  by  S.  Laing,  annotated 
by  R.  B.  Anderson.N.  Y. :  Scribner,  1889.     4  vols.     (E.  E.) 

MACLEAR,  G.  F.  The  Conversion  of  the  West...  The 
Northmen.     Lon. :  S.  P.  C.K.     (80  cents.) 

DUNHAM,  S.  A.  History  of  Denmark,  Sweden  and  Nor- 
way. 

CARLYLE,  T.     Early  Kings  of  Norway. 

MACLEAR,  G.  F.  Conversion  of  the  West. . .  The  Slavs. 
Lon. :  S.  P.  C.  K.,  1879.     (80  cents.) 

KRASINSKI,  V.  Sketch  of  the  Religious  History  of  the 
Slavonic  Nations.     Edinb. :  Johnstone  &  Hunter,  1851. 

LEGER,  L.  A  History  of  Austro-Hungary  from  the  Earli- 
est Time  to  the  year  1889.  Translated  from  the  French  by 
Mrs.  Beubeck  Hill.  With  preface  by  E.  A.  Freeman.  Lon. 
Rivington,  1889.     672  pp. 

GINZEL,  J.  A.  Gcschichte  der  Slavenapostel  Cyrill  und 
Method  und  der  Slawischcn  Liturgie.  Vienna :  A.  Sshmur- 
leim,  1861. 

BON WETSCH,  G.  W.  Cyrell  und  Methodius,  die  Lehrer 
der  Slaven.     Erlangen  :  1885. 

TOZER,  H.  F.  The  Church  and  the  Eastern  Empire. 
Lon.:  Longmans,  1888.  (80  cents.)  Chap.  VII.,  Missionary 
Efforts  Among  the  Slavs. 

STANLEY,  A.  P.  Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  Eastern 
Church.  N.  Y. :  Scribners.  1862.  Lecture  IX.,  "The  Russian 
Church." 

MOURAVIEFF,  A.  V.  A  History  of  the  Church  of  Rus- 
sia.   Lon. :  Rivington,  1842. 

Chapter  XXI. — Arctic  Regions. 

MORRIS  (Wm.)  and  MAGNUSSON  (E.).  The  Saga 
Library.    Lon.:     Quaritch,  1891.    5  vols.     (E.  E.) 

REEVES,  A.  M.     The  Finding  of  Wineland  the  Good,  the 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  477 

History  of  the  Icelandic  Discovery  of  America.  Lon. : 
Frowde,  1895.     (E.  E.  E.) 

PAGE,  J.  Amid  Greenland  Snows:  Early  Hist,  of  Arctic 
Missions.     Revell,  1893.      (75  cents.) 

EGEDE,  H.  A  Description  of  Greenland,  with  Historical 
Introduction  and  Life  of  the  Author.  Lon. :  Allman,  1818,  225 
pp.     (E.  E.  E.) 

VARIOUS.  Modern  Apostles  of  Missionary  Byways.  N. 
Y. :  Student  Voolunteer  Movement,  1899.  40  cents.  Hans 
Egede,  by  A.  C.  Thompson,  reprinted  from  his  Protestant  Mis- 
sions.    11  pp. 

COMMITTEE.  Lives  of  Missionaries..  .Greenland,  Hans 
Egede,  Matthiew  Stach  and  Their  Associates.  Lon. :  S.  P.  C. 
K. 

CRANS,  D.     History  of  Greenland.     Lon. :  1767.     2  vols. 

BRIGHTWELL,  MISS  C.  L.  Romance  of  Modern  Mis- 
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H.  L.  L.  Story  of  Moravian  Missions  in  Greenland  and  La- 
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History  of  the  Missions  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Labra- 
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Chapter  XXII. — Spanish  America. 

WINSOR.  J.,  ed.  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  Amer- 
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BANCROFT,  H.  H.  The  Works  Of.  38  vols.  San  Fran- 
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COLUMBUS,  C.  Letter  to  Gabriel  Sanchez,  1493.  Bost. : 
Old  South  Leaflet,  No.  33.  (5  cents.)  Same  letter  as  preced- 
ing.    (E.  E.) 


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COLUMBUS,  C.  Memorial  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 
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FORD,  P.  L.  Writings  of  Columbus.  N.  Y. :  Webster, 
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HELPS,  A.  Life  of  Las  Casas.  Lon. :  Bell  &  Daldy,  1868. 
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BENZONI,  G.  History  of  the  New  World.  Lon. :  Hak- 
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MARSHALL.     Christian  Missions. 

SOUTHEY,  R.     History  of  Brazil.     Lon. :  Longman,  1822. 

MARKHAM,  C.  R.  Expeditions  Into  the  Valley  of  the 
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mary of  missions  for  that  region.      (E.  E.  E.) 

MURATORI.    Relation  of  the  Missions  in  Paraguay.   Lon. : 

CHARLEVOIX,  P.  F.  X.The  History  of  Paraguay.  Lon. : 
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CADDELL,  C.  M.  History  of  the  Missions  in  Paraguay. 
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SOUTHEY,  R.  A  Tale  of  Paraguay.  Bost.:  Goodrich, 
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BYRNE,  S.  (O.  P.)  Sketches  of  Illustrious  Dominicans. 
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Chapter  XXIII. — French  America. 

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Lebanon,  Conn.  Bost. :  Old  South  Leaflet.  (5  cents.)  (E. 
E.) 

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Introducing  Christianity  Among  the  Indians  Westward  of  the 
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SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  485 

SCHWEINITZ,  E.  D.    The  Life  and  Times  of  David  Zeis- 
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Chapter  XXV. — Continuity  in  Missions. 
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Modern  Missions."     Pp.  71-92. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Figures  refer  to  pages. 


Abenakis,  the,  382. 

Abgar,  the,  77. 

Abgarus,  King,  74,  75 ;  epistle 
of,  75  ;    healing  of,  76. 

Abraham,  17  ;  clan  of,  78 ;  de- 
scendants of,  84. 

Absalom  of  Roeskild,  330. 

Abulfaraj,  114. 

Abulfazl,  97  ;  his  report  of  the 
teaching  of  the  monks,  97,  98. 

Abyssinia,   194-198. 

Acadia,  381. 

Acapulco,  156,  164. 

Acca,  302. 

Achaia,  229,  444. 

Acts,  translated  Into  Malayan, 
100. 

Adam,  William,  129. 

Adelbert,  302. 

Adelbert  of  Bohemia,  309. 

Aden,  84. 

Adiabene,  27. 

jEneas,  of  Paris,  324. 

Africa,  intellectual  leadership 
of,  186;    200-204. 

Agilbert,  287. 

Agilus,   299. 

Aichstadt,  302. 

Aiden,  28Sf. 

Akbar,  Mogul  Emperor  of  In- 
dia, 97,  98. 

Alarlc,  294,  295. 

Alba,  Juan,  156. 

Albania,  324. 

Albuquerque,  lSOff. 

Alculn,  concerning  religious  free- 
dom, 308. 


Aleppo,  85. 

Alexander,  6  ;  7  ;  88  ;  90  ;  228  ; 
portrait  of,  65. 

Alexandria,  6  ;  8  ;  17  ;  19  ;  '12; 
24;  25;  83;  442;  library  of, 
25;  Christian  college  in,  89; 
religion  in,  187,  188 ;  educa- 
tion in,  188. 

Alexandrians,  51. 

Alfaro,  Pedro  de,  138. 

Alforese,  the,  101. 

Alisolda,  136. 

Allouez,  Claude,  389,  390. 

Almalic,  134. 

Almeida,  174. 

Amandus,  299,  300. 

Amboyna,  the  Island  of,  100, 
101. 

Amboynese,  the,  101. 

Amlsos,  68. 

Ammon,  Captain,  158ff. 

Ananias,  51. 

Ananias,  the  courier,  75. 

Anchieta,  Joseph,  363,  364. 

Andre,  Louis,  391. 

Andrew  of  Perugia,  extracts 
from  epistle  of.  127.  128. 

Angota,  convent  of,  175. 

Anne  of  Russia,  327,  328. 

Annemund,  Bishop,  291. 

Ansfrid,  318. 

Ansgar,  313;  at  lied. by.  314: 
in  Hamburg,  314;  n?n!n  in 
Denmark,  818  318. 

Anson,  Commod<n.\  165;   L68. 

Anthony  of  St.  Thomas,  422. 

Antigua,  424. 


487 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Antioch,  Pisldian,  31 ;  61. 

ADtioch  of  Syria,  17  ;  19  ;  31  ; 
56  ;  64  ;  81 ;  first  base  of  for- 
eign mission  work,  57  ;  head- 
quarters for  missionaries,  58, 
65. 

Antiochus  the  Great,  17  ;  19. 

Apion,  20. 

Apollos,  65,  66;  234. 

Apologetics,  early,  432,  433. 

Apostles,  training  of  theA  40-42  ; 
their  fields  of  labor,  53-56 ; 
60-68  ;  76  ;  88  ;  89  ;  187  ;  229- 
235  ;  248  ;  see  names  of  Apos- 
tles. 

Apelles,  65. 

Aquila,  66  ;  233  ;  240. 

Aquila,  translator  of  O.  T.  Into 
Greek,    26. 

Arabia,  83ff ;  Emir  asks  for 
Christian  teaching,  83,  84. 

Arabians,  19  ;  31 ;  47. 

Arcadius,  Emperor,  192,  193. 

Argoun,  133,  134. 

Arlma,  174. 

Aristarchus,  241. 

Arlstides,  235 ;  "Apology"  of, 
236,  237;   432;   433. 

Ariston,  433. 

Arlet,  Stanislaus.  368. 

Armagh,  265  ;  The  Book  of  Ar- 
magh, 266. 

Armenia,  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity, 78ff ;  the  first  apos- 
tle of,  78 ;    King  of,  118. 

Arnobius,  201,  202  ;  432  ;  438. 

Arnold  of  Cologne,  124. 

Asia,  Roman,  visitors  from,  51 ; 
Province  of,  67. 

Assendase,  Chief,  388. 

Astorga,  249. 

Athenagoras,   433. 

Athanasius.  186  ;  197  ;  198. 

"Athanasius  against  the  World," 
192. 

Athenians,  6. 


Athens,  1  ;  2  ;  19  ;  31 ;  The  Uni- 
versity of,  238. 

Augustine,  186;  201,  202,  203; 
443. 

Augustine,  missionary  to  Eng- 
land, 274  ;  276-280. 

Augustus,   11. 

Aurelius,  Marcus,  21. 

Autbert,  313. 

Autun,  252. 

Axum,   195. 

Azores,    the,    210. 

Azurara,  concerning  Henry  the 
Navigator,  210,  211. 

Baarlam  and  Josaphat,  The  Life 
of,  236. 

Babylon,  76;  83. 

Babylonia,  17. 

Bactria,  78. 

Baesten,  215. 

Bagdad,  83  ;  86  ;  114  ;  115. 

Bahare,   Sergius,   85. 

Balda?us,  103. 

Balk,   Herman,  309. 

Balthazar,  of  Japan,  173. 

Bangor,  297. 

Baptism,  superstitions  concern- 
ing, 377,  378  ;  of  infants,  144, 
145. 

Baraza,  Cyprlano.  366. 

Barber,  Jonathan,  414. 

Barbados,  424. 

Barbary   States,  the,  204. 

Barclay,  Henry,  415.      , 

Bardalsan,  77,  78. 

Bar-Manu,  the  Abgar,  77,  78. 

Barnabas,  31;  57;  59ff ;  [Jo- 
seph], 50. 

Barnabas  of  Japan,  172,  173. 

Batavla,  99,  100. 

Baudin,    148. 

Bautista.    Pedro,   175. 

Bavlanskloof,  225. 

Bavaria,  299 ;  306. 

Beatty,  Charles,  419, 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


489 


Beck,  John,  346ff. 

Bede,  274  ;  concerning  the  ori- 
gin of  missions  from  Rome  to 
England,  275-279  ;  concerning 
introduction  of  Christianity 
into  Northumbria,  282-285 ; 
concerning  Celtic  missions  in 
England,   287-289. 

Belgium,  253. 

Benedict  of  Poland,  116. 

Benigna,  Countess,  419. 

Benignus,   252. 

Berathgith,  306. 

Berea,  19;  232. 

Berkshire  Hills,  the,  412. 

Bernard,  329. 

Bernicia,  285. 

Bertha,  Queen,  277 ;  279 ;  280, 
281. 

Bertrand,  Louis,  369. 

Beryllus,  84. 

Beschi,  Constantius,  97. 

Bethencourt,  Jean  de,  208. 

Bethlehem,  58  ;  73  ;  118  ;  the 
Star  of,  82. 

Betuex,  384. 

Biard,  Pierre,  381. 

Bigot,  James,  382. 

Bigot,  Sebastian,  382. 

Birinus,   286. 

Birka,  317,  318. 

Bithynia,   67. 

Bjorn,   King,   317. 

"Black-gowns"  among  the  In- 
dians, 382,   383  ;   387. 

Bobbio,  298. 

Boduff,  318. 

Boehler,  Peter,  419,  420. 

Boemish.  Frederick,  346ff. 

Boers,  the  significance  of  their 
history,  226,  227. 

Bogoris,  322. 

Bohemia,  323  ;  422  ;  442. 

Bohemian  Brethren,  444. 

Bonda,  103. 

Boniface  [Wlnfrld],  302-307; 
443, 


Bontier,  Pierre,  208. 

Borziwoi,   323. 

Bostra,  84  ;  85. 

Bradford,  concerning  the  mi- 
gration of  the  Pilgrims,  397. 

Brainerd,  David,  416,  417  ;  443  ; 
his  journals,  417. 

Brainerd,  John,  418. 

Brazil,  362-366. 

Brebeuf,  Jean  de,  386,  387. 

Bregenz,  298. 

Bressani,  Francis,  387,  388. 

Brigida,  267f. 

Brito,  John  de,  99. 

Brocard,  148. 

Brotherton,  415. 

Brown,  Peter,  424. 

Bruide,  King,  270. 

Bruno  of  Saxony,  309. 

Bugia,  207. 

Bulgarians,   the,   322. 

Bungo,  province  of,  171 ;  172 ; 
King  of,  175  ;  convent  of,  175. 

Burgundians,  the,  253,  254. 

Cabral,  174. 

Csesar,  Julius,  11. 

Cfesarea,  30  ;  31 ;  55. 

Caesarea,  Cappadocia,  79. 

California,  372,  373  ;  375-377. 

Cam,  Diego,  213. 

Camarlnes,  156. 

Cammerhoff,  420. 

Campbell,     William,     concerning 

missions  in  Formosa.  179. 
Canary  Islands,  the,  208f;  210. 
Cancer,  Louis,  373. 
Candace,  treasurer  of,  196,  197. 
(iandidus,  George,  179f. 
Cannaneo,  Thomas,  89. 
Canterbury,  278f. 
Canton,  138. 
Canute  the  Great,  316. 
Cape  Breton  Island,  381. 
Cape  Coast  Castle,  210. 
Cape  Town,  224,  225. 
Cape  Verde,  211  ;    Islands,  210, 


49Q 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Capernaum,  37. 

Cappadocia,  19  ;  47  ;  67  ;  80. 

Caracalla,  77,  78. 

Carey,  William,  24  ;  443  ;  com- 
parison of  with  Xavier,  171, 
172. 

Carolinas,  the,  373. 

Cartagena,  369. 

Carthage,  199f. 

Caschar,  118. 

Cashgar,  77. 

Cassius,  Dion,  18;  28. 

Catacombs  of  Rome,  243.  244. 

Cathay,  115;  117;  123;  136, 
137. 

Catherine  of  Cebu,  154. 

Cavallero,   Lucas,   366. 

Cawcawmsquissick,  406. 

Cazuta,  213. 

Cebu,  Island  of,  152ff. 

Cedd,  286. 

Celebes,  103. 

Celsus,  192  ;  437. 

cenchrea,  church  at,  234. 

Ceolloch,  286. 

Ceylon,    90 ;    102,   103. 

Chseremon,  20. 

Chagatai,  132  ;  134  ;  136. 

Champlain,  Samuel,  371  ;  384  ; 
his  account  of  church  disci- 
pline in  Mexico,  372. 

Chardon,  John  B„  392. 

Charlemagne,  307  ;  308. 

Charles  V,  360. 

Chata,  118. 

Chaumonot,   Peter,  388. 

Chazars,  the,  321. 

Chiapa,  360. 

Chicago,  391. 

China,  18  ;  82  ;  107-149  ;  begin- 
ning of  Manchu  Dynasty, 
140 ;  three  periods  of  mis- 
sions, 107  ;  first  period,  107- 
115;  second  period,  115-137; 
third  period,  137-149  :  edict 
against  foreign     religions  in, 


113,  114 ;  attempts  of  mis- 
sionaries from  the  Philippines, 
137,  138  ;  159-161 ;  Chinese 
in  the  Philippines,  166,  167. 

Chinnihild,  306. 

Christian  of  Pomerania,  309. 

Christian    socialism,   49,    50. 

Christmas  Tree,  the  first,  306. 

Chrysostom,   57. 

Chunchi,  Emperor,  141. 

Chunidrat,  306. 

Church,  the  institutional,  51. 

Churches  as  Missionary  Socie- 
ties, 437. 

Cicero,  concerning  universal  law, 
9. 

Cilicia,  visitors  from,  51. 

Claudius,   Apollinaris,   433. 

Claver,  Peter,  369. 

Clemens,    Flavius,    243. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  188  ;  his 
characterization  of  Pantsenus, 
89  ;  his  writings,  188ff  ;  his 
"Exhortation  to  the  Heath- 
en,"  189-191  ;   432,   433. 

Clement  of  Macedonia,  324. 

Clement  of  Rome,  235  ;  243  ; 
248. 

Clotilda,  255,  256  ;  280. 

Clovis,  254-256  ;  baptism  of,  256. 

.Coifi,  283,  284. 

'Coinwalch,  286. 

Colman,  299. 

Colombia,  369. 

Colossae,  67. 

Colossians,  Paul's  letter  to  the, 
67. 

Columba,   269-272. 

Columbanus,   297,   298. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  356ff : 
communication  to  the  sover- 
eigns of  Spain,  356,  357  ;  ex- 
tract from  will,  357  ;  Christo- 
ferens,  358. 

Comgall,  270  ;  297. 

Commission,  the  Great,  47. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


491 


Commodianus,  433. 

Concobella,  213. 

Congo,  213-215. 

Connecticut,  414f. 

Constantine  the  Great,  57  ;  81 ; 
244. 

Constantine  of  China,  140. 

Constantinople,   321  ;   327. 

Constantius,  Emperor^,   84.    . 

Copenhagen,   342  ;  423. 

Cora,  John  de,  130  ;  concerning 
Xestorians  in  China,  130,  131. 

Corinth,  19  ;  31 ;  233-235. 

Corinthians,  the,  234,  235 ; 
Paul's  letters  to,  234. 

Cornelius,  30  ;  31 ;  55  ;  56. 

Cornelius  of  St.  Croix,  423. 

Cosmas,    Indicopleustes,    90. 

Cosreen,  200. 

Cowper,   William,   443. 

Cradock,  John,  397. 

Crespi,  376. 

Cretans,  19  ;  31 ;  47. 

Crete,  238,  239. 

Crimea,  the,  321 ;  326  ;  327. 

Cross  of  Christ,  inscription  on 
the,   3  ;    coins  of  Edessa,  77. 

Crozet,  168. 

Crusades,  the,  58;  122. 

Cuba,  357;  359ff ;  373. 

Cynegils,  King,  286. 

Cyprian,  201  ;  432  ;  433  ;  con- 
cerning Spain,  249. 

Cyprus,  19  ;  59  ;  207 ;  Barnabas 
and  Saul  in,  57  ;  early  mis- 
sions in,  59-61. 

Cyrene,  18;  19. 

Cyrenians,  51. 

Cyril  of  Alexandria,  81. 

Cyril  [Constantine]  the  Apostle 
Of  the  Slavs,  321ff  ;  444. 


Dablon,  Claude,  388. 

Dafur,  84. 

D'Agulllan,  Duchesse,  385. 

Damascus,  17  ;  19  ;  40  ;  54  ;  444. 


Dambrowka,  329. 

Dampier,  concerning  Philip- 
pines, 162,  163. 

Danes,  the,  312-316. 

Daniel,   missionary  prophet,   16. 

David,   Christian,  345ff. 

Davion,   Anthony,   393. 

Darfur,  204. 

Dartmouth  College,  414. 

Davenport,   James,   416. 

Day  of  Pentecost,  76 ;  88. 

De  Chavignac,  145  ;  concerning 
qualifications  for  mission 
work  in  China,  146,  147. 

De  Fontenay,  John,   143  ;    147ff. 

Deira,  285. 

De  la  Peltrie,  Madame,  385. 

Denehard,  305. 

Denmark,    311-316. 

Denys  of  Paris,  252. 

Derbe,  63  ;  64. 

De  Rodes,  148. 

D'Escobar,  Francis,  374. 

Detroit,  391  ;  394. 

Deventer,  302. 

De  Watteville,  Frederick,  422. 

Diana,  the  temple  of,  65. 

Dichu,   263. 

Dicul,  290. 

Diego,  167. 

Dionysius,  235  ;  238. 

Dispersion,  the,  18. 

Diuma,  286. 

Dober,  Loehnard.  422. 

D'Olmos.    Andrew,    375. 

Dominic,  204,  205. 

Domitian,  Emperor,  243. 

Domitilla,   Flavia,  243. 

Donatists,  the,  202. 

Donfield,  285. 

Dongola,  the  King  of,  198 ;  204. 

Doorkan,  77. 

Dorchester,  399. 

Drachart,  Lawrence,  352. 

Drostan   [Dunstan],  271. 

Druillettes,  Gabriel,  382;  383; 
390. 


492 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Duffleld,   George,   419. 
Dunster,   Henry,   408. 

Eanfled,  282;  291. 

Ebed-Melech,   196. 

Ecbarsha,  98,  99. 

Eddas,  the,  332. 

Edessa,   74-78;   81,  82. 

Edessius,    197. 

Edinburgh,  281. 

Edmonds,  Canon,  concerning  the 
Scriptures  in  missions,  429, 
430  ;  431,  432. 

Edward  I  of  England,  134. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  412,  413. 

Edwards,   Jonathan,   Jr.,  413. 

Edwin,  281 ;  286. 

Ebo,   Bishop   of  Rheims,    313. 

Egbert,  301. 

Egede,  Gertrude,  341,  342  ;  344  ; 
346. 

Egede,  Hans,  341-346. 

Egede,  Paul,  344. 

Egypt,   17  ;  19  ;  47  ;  186-194. 

Elagabalus,  Caesar,  78. 

El  Ahwaz,  77. 

Elamites,  47,  76. 

Eligius,  300  ;  concerning  practi- 
cal Christianity,  300,  301. 

Eliot,  John,  400-409  ;  443  ;  in 
Roxbury,  408  ;  in  Nonantum, 
409 ;  arouses  missionary  in- 
terest in  England,  409  ;  pub- 
lishes Bible  translation  and 
grammar,  409  ;  forms  Indian 
villages,  409. 

Elvira,  Council  of,  250. 

Elymas,  60.  ' 

England,  273-292  ;  299  ;  301ff  ; 
early  Christianity  in.  257ff ; 
Celtic  missions,  273f ;  287- 
290 ;  Roman  missions,  274- 
285 ;  English  missions.  290. 
291  ;  missionary  motive  in 
colonizing,  397f. 

English  invasion  of  Britain,  258, 
259. 


English  and  Scandinavians,  320, 
321. 

Epaphras,  67. 

Ephesus,  19 ;  65,  66,  67  ;  Coun- 
cil in,  81. 

Ephesians,  Paul's  letter  to  the, 
67. 

Epiphanius,  80.   . 

Erhard,  Christian,  350f. 

Eric,  King,  319. 

Eric  the  Red,  338ff. 

Ericson,  Leif,  339,  340;  mis- 
sionary,  340,   341. 

Erimbert,   318. 

Escalona,  Louis  de,  374. 

Eskimos,   the,   343ff. 

Espanola,  [Haiti]  [San  Domin- 
go], 357. 

Ethelberga,  280,  281  ;   287. 

Ethelbert,  277ff ;  286  ;  reception 
of  the  missionaries,  278 ; 
brings  them  to  Canterbury, 
278  ;    his  baptism,  279. 

Ethiopia,   195ff. 

Ethiopian,  the,  8. 

Euodia,  229. 

Euphrates,  the,   17 ;   valley,  76. 

Eusebius,  58  ;  concerning  Apos- 
tolic missions.  42 ;  concern- 
ing King  Abgarus,  74-76  ;  con- 
cerning Christians  of  Lyons, 
251. 

Eustasius,  299. 

Ewald,  302;  307. 

Faizi,  98. 

Faure,    concerning    missions    in 

the  Ladrone  Islands,  167. 
Felicitas,  200. 
Felix  of  Burgundy,  286. 
Felix  Minucius,  433. 
Ferdinand,  358  ;  360. 
Ferdinand,  Jean,  170. 
Ferdinand  of  St.  Joseph,  176. 
Figen,  Province  of,  176. 
Filipinos,  151,  152. 
Finland,  330. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


493 


Fk-ando  [Hirado],  170;  173. 

Flanders,  299,  300  ;  314. 

Flarian,   296. 

F16che,  Jesse,  3S1. 

Florida,  373,  374. 

Foreman,  152  ;  176. 

Formosa,   17911 ;    characteristics 

of  Dutch  missions  in,  180fC. 
Foulger,  Peter,  411. 
France,  251-256. 
Francis  of  Alexandria,  134. 
Francis   of    Assisi,     58 ;     193ff ; 

204  ;  205  ;  438. 
Francke,  August.  422  ;  440. 
Franco  of  Perugia,  134. 
Frapperie,    148. 
Frederick  of  Saxony,   333. 
Friends,  the,  418,  419. 
Frisia,  see  Holland. 
Frumentius,  197. 
Fulda,  306. 
Fursey  of  Ireland,  286. 

Galatia,  61 ;  64  ;  65  ;  67. 
Galatians,   Paul's  letter  to  the, 

64. 
Gallio,  233,  234. 
Gallus,  298. 

Ganneaktena,  Catherine,  888. 
Garnier,    387. 
Gaspe,  Cape,  381. 
Gautbert,  317,  318. 
Geislar,   306. 
Genoa,  206  :  207. 
Gens  ^Sterna,  444. 
Georgia,  Fersia,  80,  81. 
Georgia,  U.  S.,  374. 
Gerard,  127. 
Gilbert,  384. 
Gildas,  258. 
Glasgow,  269. 
Gnadenhutten,  421. 
Gnadenthal,  226. 
Gomez,  Diego,  212. 
Gomoz,  376. 
Gookln,  Daniel,  409. 


Goto  Islands,  the,  174. 

Goths,  the,  254  ;  294-307. 

Gravier,  James,  392. 

Gravius,  Daniel,  182. 

Greece,  228-238. 

Greeks,  mission  of  the,  4ff ;  their 
location,  4 ;  intellectual  at- 
tainments, 5 ;  linguistic  gift, 
5,  6 ;  conquests,  6,  7  ;  their 
transmission  of  religious 
ideals,  428,  429. 

Green  Bay,  394. 

Greenland,  338-350. 

Gregory  the  Great,  275ff ;  awak- 
ening of  his  interest  in  Eng- 
land, 275  ;  his  missionary  ex- 
pedition, 276  ;  his  letters  con- 
cerning the  English  mission, 
280. 

Gregory  the  Illuminator,  78-80. 

Gregory  of  New  Csesarea,  69,  70. 

Gregory  of  Nysa,  70. 

Gregory  X.,  122. 

Grundler,  441. 

Guam.  167,  168. 

Guatemala,  360. 

Guevara,  Diego,  175. 

Guiana,   370. 

Guinea,  216. 

Hadrian,  187 ;  235. 
Hakon  the  Good,  319,  320. 
Halle,   422  ;    the  University  of, 

104  ;  105  ;  420  ;  422. 
Hanan-Yeshu',  113. 
Hanjiro,  169,  170  ;  translations 

by,  177. 
Haran,  78. 
Harnack,     concerning    Judaism, 

24. 
Haroldson,  Olaf,  319,  320. 
Harvard  College,  408. 
Havana,   373. 
Haven,  Jens,  351-354. 
Hawley,   Gideon,   413. 
Hebrews,    the,    13-32 ;     mission- 


494 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


ary  Idea  In  germinal  promise, 
13 ;  In  songs,  13,  14 ;  in 
prophecies,  14-16 ;  develop- 
ment of  ideals,  16ff  ;  missions 
of,  19ff ;  relation  of  to  Chris- 
tian missions,  30-32  ;  Hebrew 
ideals  in  Greek  forms,  428, 
429  ;    see  Jews. 

Heckwelder,  John,  420. 

Hedeby,  314,  315. 

Helen,   27. 

Helena,   140. 

Henry  the  Navigator,  209-212. 

Herigar,  317,  318. 

Ilermias,  433. 

Hermon,  Mount,  40. 

Herodotus,  concerning  Greeks  in 
Cyrene,  195. 

Herrada,  Martin  de,  137;  156; 
160. 

Herrera,  156ff ;  161,  162. 

Herrnhtit,  86  ;  224  ;  345  ;  346  ; 
422;  424. 

Ilenrnius,    Justus,   99,   100. 

Hii,  289  ;  see  Iona. 

Hilda,  289. 

Hincmar,  324 ;  concerning  the 
baptism  of  Clovis,  256. 

Hippo,  202. 

Hippolytus,  247  ;  433. 

Hirado    [Firando],  170;   173. 

Hitoe,  101. 

Hocker,  Fred  Wm,  85 ;  194. 

Hoddam,  269. 

Holland,  103;  361;  [Frisia], 
291;  307;  [Friesland],  300; 
301ff. 

Hollis,  Thomas,  412. 

Homeritffl,   the,   84. 

Honoratus,   253. 

Honorius,  Pope,  286. 

Hopedale,    351ff. 

Horic,  315. 

Horic  II,   315,   316. 

Horton,  Azariah,  416. 

Hosius,   250,  251. 

Hsiian  Tsung,  111. 


Ilumabon,  Rajah  of  Cebu,  153. 

Hungary,  116. 

Huss,  John,  442,  443. 

Hussites,  444. 

Hyder,    All,    106. 

Hyacinth,  309. 

Iceland,  331-838. 

Iconium,  19  ;  63. 

Ignatius,  56  ;  58. 

Illinois,    the,   392. 

India,  132;  87-106;  five  plant- 
ings of  Christianity  in,  88 ; 
primitive  missions,  88,  89 ; 
Nestorian,  89-92  ;  Romish,  92- 
99 ;  Dutch  Presbyterian,  99- 
103  ;    Danish  Lutheran,  104ff. 

Indicopleustes,  Cosmas,  90. 

Inge,  King,  319. 

Iona  [Hy],  270  ;  271 ;  272  ;  287  ; 
291. 

Iraks,  the  two,  77. 

Ireland,   259-268  ;   297ff  ;   301. 

Irenseus,  251  ;  443  ;  concerning 
Spain,  248. 

Isabella,  358. 

Isabella  of  Meffana,  154. 

Isaiah,  15,  16 ;  concerning  Ethi- 
opia, 196. 

Ispahan,  86. 

Italy,   239-247. 

Izates,  King,  27. 

Jaballaha,  133. 

Jagello,  310. 

Jamaica,  425. 

Jamay,  Denis,  384. 

James,  249 ;  concerning  preva- 
lence of  Jewish  worship,  28. 

Jane,  of  Cebu,  154. 

Japan,  169-178  ;  early  missions 
in,  169-174 ;  imperial  perse- 
cution, 175f ;  decree  against 
Christianity,  178. 

Japanese  in  the  Philippines,  166, 
167. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


495 


Jaques,  Isaac,  415. 

Jartoux,  148. 

Java,  99,  100;  102. 

Javanese,    the,    101. 

Jena,  the  University  of,  420. 

Jecghiz  Khan,  116  ;  the  descend- 
ants of,  137. 

Jensen,  Steven,  352. 

Jerome,  in  Bethlehem,  58  ;  con- 
cerning Pantsenus,  89. 

Jerome  of  Prague,  442,  443. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  ideal  mis- 
sionary, 33 ;  his  testimony, 
34 ;  characteristics  of  his 
work,  34f  ;  innovations,  35  ; 
teaching  of  God  as  our  Fa- 
ther, 36  ;  of  Immediate  fellow- 
ship with  God,  36  ;  of  spirit- 
ual worship,  36 ;  of  unity 
among  men,  36 ;  methods  of 
work,  37,  38 ;  choice  of  field, 
38,  39  ;  consciousness  of  broad 
mission,  40 ;  training  of  mis- 
sionaries, 40,  41 ;  his  ideal, 
43  ;  "the  world,"  43  ;  his  par- 
ables, 43,  44  ;  his  estimate  of 
the  worth  of  man,  45. 

Jesus  Christ,  the  Master,  55. 

Jews,  satirized  by  ancient  class- 
ic writers,  20ff ;  in  foreign 
lands,  17ff ;  88  ;  missionary 
activity  of,  22ff  ;  30  ;  transla- 
tion of  Scriptures,  24f ;  ex- 
clusiveness  of,  24  ;  30  ;  tra- 
ditionalism, 35 ;  bigotry  of, 
62 ;  63 ;  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity, 67  ;   see  Hebrews. 

"Jewish  Propaganda  under 
Heathen  Mask,"   21,  22. 

Jimenez,  Alonzo,  156. 

Joel,  47. 

Jogues,  Isaac,  387,  388. 

John,   68. 

John  of  Monte  Corvlno,  122- 
126;  127,  129,  130,  431;  bis 
epistles,  123-126. 


John  of  Piano  Carpini,  116-118. 

John  II  of  Portugal,  212,  213. 

John  XXII,  Pope,  133. 

Jonah,  14. 

Joppa,  55. 

Jordanus,  92. 

Josephus,    19 ;    21 ;    concerning 

Jewish  proselytes,  27 ;  29. 
Judaism,  24  ;    proselytes  to,  27  ; 

spread  of  among  Romans,  28, 

29. 
Judaizers,  64. 
Judas  [Thomas],  76. 
Judea,  49. 

Judith,  Empress,  313. 
Judson,  24. 
Julian,    his    attempt    to    restore 

paganism,  57. 
Junius,  Robertus,  180-183. 
Justin  Martyr,  58 ;  70-72  ;  245, 

246  ;  432  ;  433. 
Jutland,  315. 
Juvenal,  20  ;  satire  of,  28,  29. 

Kagoshima,  170,  171. 

Kalliana  [Malabar],  90. 

Kang-hi,  142. 

Kilo  Tsung,  110. 

Karakorum,  116  ;   117  ;   119. 

Karbende  Khan,  134. 

Kaskaskia,  392. 

Kayarnak,  348. 

Kentigern,    269f. 

Keraits,    the,    115,    116;     130, 

134 ;  see  Tatars. 
Keturah,  84. 
Khorasan,  113. 

Khuen  [Kino],  Eusebius,  372. 
Kilian,  299. 
Klngmingnese,  353. 
Kioto,  170. 

Kirkland,  Samuel,  415. 
Klak,  Harold,  313ff. 
Koenigseer,  Michael,  349. 
Koptlc  Church,  the,  193. 
Koxlnga,  184. 


496 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Kryn,  Chief,  388. 

Kublai  Khan,  extent  of  his  do- 
minion, 120,  121 ;  his  request 
for  missionaries,  121,  122 ; 
last  Khan  to  rule  all  the  Mon- 
gols, 132 ;    see  Tatars. 

Kuyuk  Khan,  117-119. 

Labrador,  350-354. 

Ladrone  Islands,  the,  167,  168. 

Lseghaire,  264. 

Lalemant,  Daniel,  387. 

Lalemant,  Jerome,  386. 

Lancerote  Island,  208. 

Lapland,  330. 

La  Pointe,  389. 

Las  Casas,  Bartolomeo  de,  359- 

362. 
Las  Casas,  Albert  de,  209. 
Layard,  114. 
Lebanon,  414. 
Lebvinus,  302. 
Le  Caron,  Joseph,  384  ;  386. 
Legaspi,  155  ;  157  ;  159f. 
Legge,  translation  of  inscription 

on  monument    of    Si-gnan-fu, 

109-112. 
Leipsic,  the  University  of,  419. 
Le  Jeune,  Paul,  384. 
Le  Noue,  384. 
Leon,  249. 

Lescarbot,  Marc,  381. 
Leupold,  Tobias,  422,  423. 
Lewis,  174. 

Leyden,  the  University  of,  99. 
Leytimor,  101. 
Libya,  19;  47. 
Lichtenau,  349. 
Lichtenfels,  348;  351. 
Lilla,  281,  282. 
Lima,  the  University  of,  368. 
Limahon,  158  ;  160,  161. 
L'Incarnation,  Marie  de,  385. 
Lindisfarne,  the  Isle  of,  288  ;291. 
Lioba,  305. 
Lisbon,  365. 


Lithuania,  309,  310. 

Liudhard,  277. 

Livingstone,  David,  concerning 
Romish  mission  work  in  Afri- 
ca, 214  ;  216,  217. 

Lo-han,  110. 

Long  Island,  416. 

Louis  the  Pious,  313. 

Louis  IX,  119. 

Louisiana,  392,  393. 

Loyer,  215. 

Loyola,  Ignatius,  94. 

Lucius  of  Cyrene,  57  ;  194. 

Luke,  229 ;  concerning  Antioch, 
56. 

Lull,  Raymond,  205-208 ;  305. 

Luna,  Don  Tristam  de,  373. 

Luther,  442. 

Liitken,  104. 

Luxeuil,  298. 

Lydia,  31 ;  229. 

Lyons,  251. 

Lysimachus,  20. 

Lystra,  63 ;  64. 

Macedonia,  18;  229ff;  444. 

Mackinaw,  390 ;  394. 

Madagascar,  217. 

Madeira  Islands,  the,  210. 

Madras,  91. 

Magdalena,  226. 

Magellan,  landing  at  Cebu,  152 
conference  with  the  natives 
152,  153 ;  gives  religious  in 
struction,  154 ;  visits  Guam 
167. 

Magi,  the,  .82. 

Maine,  381-383. 

Mainottes,  the,  238. 

Majorca,  205-207. 

Malacca,  93;  169. 

Malabar,  90. 

Malayan  Peninsula,  the,  120. 

Malays,  the,  100. 

Male,  90. 

Maneean,  57. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


497 


Manetho,  20. 
Mangou,  119f. 

Manila,  137  ;  157  ;  158  ;  165  ; 
166 :  ambassadors  from  to 
China,  160. 

Manor,  Gulf  of,  95. 

Maopongo,  213. 

Marcellinus,  302. 

Marcellus  II,  95. 

Maria,  140. 

Marignolli,  John  de,  136. 

Marin,  158,  161. 

Mark,  John,  61  ;  reputed  to  have 
worked  in  Egypt,  187. 

Mark  of  Nice,  374. 

Markham,  Clements,  concerning 
Henry  Reichler,  364. 

Mar  Maris.  77. 

Mar   Peroses,   89. 

Marquette,  Jacques  [James], 
389ff. 

Mar    Sapor,   89. 

Martha's  Vineyard,  409  ;  410  ; 
411. 

Martin,  Hieronimo,  138. 

Martin  of  Tours,  252,  253  ;  262, 
263;  268. 

Martini,  140. 

Maru  and  Tus,  Bishop  of,  113. 

Mason,  John,  414. 

Massachusetts,  397-413 ;  extract 
from  Cuarter  of,  397 ;  em- 
powers county  courts  to  en- 
gage in  missionary  work,  404  ; 
408. 

Masse,  Ennemonde,  381. 

Mastate,  156. 

Mather,  Cotton,   440,  441. 

Matthew's  Gospel,  early  edition 
in   India,  89. 

Matthew,  missionary  peddler, 
177. 

Maximilian,  296. 

Mayhew,  Experience,  410  ;  414  ; 
concerning  Indians  of  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard,  411 ;  "Indian 


Converts,"  411. 

Mayhew,  John,  410. 

Mayhew,  Thomas,  410. 

Mayhew,  Thomas,  Jr.,  410. 

Mayhew,  Zechariah,  411. 

Meaco,    175. 

Medes,  19;  47;  76. 

Media,  78. 

Megapolenses,  Joanne*,  415. 

Meiachkwat,  Charles,  385. 

Melito,  433. 

Memberton,  381. 

Mendoza,  Juan  G.  de,  137 ;  con- 
cerning religion  in  the  Phil- 
ippines, 163. 

Merida,  249. 

Meroe,   195. 

Merv,  115. 

Mesa,  John  de,  375. 

Mesopotamia,  19  ;  47  ;  76. 

Methodius,  321-324  ;  444. 

Mexican  dollar  in  missions,  164. 

Mexico,  150,  151  ;  155ff  ;  360  ; 
370-372  ;  the  conquest  of,  358  ; 
the  University  of,  370. 

Michigan,  388  ;  420. 

Micmacs,  the,  381. 

Mikhak,  352 ;  358. 

Miltiades,  433. 

Mina,  212. 

Mindoro,  158. 

Missions,  agencies  for,  437-441 ; 
genealogy  of,  441-444  ;  initia- 
tion of,  427 ;  propagation  of, 
427  ;    literary,   206  ;    235-237  ; 
245-247  ;  432,433  ;  unordained 
workers   in,  247  ;   437  ;   train- 
ing schools  for,  82  ;  188  ;  205, 
206;    253;    262;    267;    289 
298  ;    299  ;    304  ;    305  ;    306 
325;    344;    408;    412;    414 
see  Student  Volunteers. 

Missions  and  Literature,  429- 
435. 

Missions  and  Maritime  Discov- 
ery, 209,  210. 


498 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Missions  and  Sociology,  435,  436. 
Mohammed,  85. 
Molon,  Apolonius,  20. 
Moluccas,  the,  103. 
Monasteries,  missionary,  267. 
Mongols  (see  China  and  Tatary). 
Monoboz,   27. 
Monterey,  376. 
Montgomery,  John,  424. 
Monti,  John  Baptist  de,  174. 
Montigny,  Francis  de,  393. 
Montreal,  384  ;  385. 
Morales,  Francis  de,  176. 
Moravia,  323f;  442. 
Moravians,    the,    194  ;    224-226 ; 

416-425  ;  439f  ;  442  ;  444. 
Morga,  Antonio  de,  150,  151. 
Morocco,   18  ;  204. 
Moronis,  Sergeant,  161. 
Moses,  26,  27;  28;  29. 
Mount   Desert  Island,  381. 
Murad,  97. 
Murcia,  205. 


Nablous,  70. 

Nadir   Shah,   85. 

Nagasaki,  173;  175,  176. 

Nain,    352. 

Nantucket,  409;  410;  411. 

Natick,   409;   414. 

Nayan,  121. 

Neale,  concerning  the  Nestorian 
church,  83. 

Nero,  11;   242,   243. 

Nestorian  Tablet  of  Madras,  In- 
dia, 91. 

Nestorian  Tablet  of  Si-gnan-fu, 
China,    107ff. 

Nestorians,  the,  82,  83  ;  89,  90f ; 
119f. 

Nestorius,  81. 

Netherlands,  the,  299. 

New  Caesarea,  70. 

"New  England's  Prospect,"  con- 
cerning Roger  Williams,  400. 


"New  England's  First  Fruits," 
398 ;  extract  from,  399. 

New  Granada  [Colombia],  369. 

New    Herrnhiit,    346,   348;    350. 

New  Jersey,  416. 

New  London,   414. 

New  Mexico,  374,  375. 

New  Orleans,  393. 

New  Stockbridge,  415. 

New  Testament,  composed  of 
missionary  documents,  430. 

New  York,  414ff. 

Nicaragua,  360. 

Nicholas  from  Antioch,  30. 

Nicholas,   Louis,   389. 

Nicholas  of  Pistoia,  123. 

Nicolas,  130. 

Nineveh,  15. 

Ninian,  268. 

Nipissing,  Lake,  384. 

Nisbets  Haven,  351. 

Nisibis,   81  ;   82. 

Nithard,  317,  318. 

Nitschmann,  David,  423. 

Nobili,  Robert  de,  95-97. 

Nobrega,  Manuel  de,  362. 

Nonantum,  409. 

Noricum,  296. 

Norridgewock,  382. 

Norway,  319-321. 

Nouni,  80,  81. 

Nova  Scotia,  381. 

Nubia,   198;   204. 

Occom,  Samson,  414,  415 ;  416. 

Ochrida,  324. 

Oda  of  Poland,  329. 

Odo  of  Beauv^is,  324. 

Odoric,  128,  129;  138. 

Ohio,  420f. 

Oita  [Fueheo],  171. 

Okak,  353. 

Okkodai,  118 ;  120. 

Olaf,   King,  318. 

Olbeau,    Jean   de,   384. 

Olga  of  Russia,  325  ;  326 ;  328. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


499 


Olney,  443. 

Olopun,  109  ;  110  ;  113. 

Omura,  173. 

Origen,  70  ;  84  ;  89  ;  186  ;  191 ; 

432;   433;   "Against  Celsus," 

192. 
Orr,    James,   concerning   church 

in  Antiocb,  56,  57. 
Orta,  158. 

Ortega,  Manuel  de,  366. 
Ortiz,   Estasio,   175. 
Osaka,  175,  176. 
Oswald,  King,  287ff  . 
Otho  of  Bamberg,  329. 
Overyssel,  302. 

Padillo,  John  de,  374. 

Pahadius,  267. 

Palliser,  Sir  Hugh,  351. 

Palou,  376. 

Pamphylia,  47  ;  61. 

Panay,  156,  157. 

Pango,  213. 

Pantsenus,  88  ;  89  ;  188. 

Paphos,  61. 

Paraguay,  366,  367. 

Paris,  the  University  of,  94  ;  206. 

Parron,  376. 

Parthia,  78. 

Parthians,  19  ;  47  ;  76. 

Pascal  of  Vittoria,  134ff. 

Patrick,  259-268. 

Paul,  1,  2  ;  10  ;  19,  20,  31  ;  258  ; 
442  ;  his  first  foreign  mission- 
ary tour,  60-64  ;  his  later  mis- 
sionary tours,  64ff  ;  his  visit 
to  Ephesus,  66  ;  excluded  from 
the  synagogue,  66 ;  success  of 
his  mission,  67  :  his  address  to 
the  Ephesian  elders.  67  ;  in 
Macedonia,  229ff ;  in  Athens, 
232f;  in  Corinth,  233f  :  in 
Crete,  238  :  in  Rome,  241,  242  ; 
In  Spain?  248  ;  see  Saul. 

Paul  of  Japan,  172,  173. 

Paul  of  Samosata,  56. 


Paulinus,  281-285  :   287. 

Peking,  83  ;  120  ;  123  ;  138  ;  148  ; 
[Cambaliech],  124;  [Camba- 
luc],  127;  129;  Nestorian 
Archbishop  of,  133 ;  embassy 
from  to  the  Pope,  136. 

Pelagius,  259. 

Penda,  286. 

Penn,  William,  418. 

Pennsylvania,  416-421 ;  Friends 
in,  418,  419 ;  Moravians  in, 
419-421. 

Pensacola  Bay,  373. 

Pentecost,  18;  46-48. 

Peoria,   392. 

Peregrine,  127,  128. 

Pereira,  142,  143. 

Perga,  64. 

Perpetua,  200. 

Persia,  73-86;  89. 

Persian  Gulf,  84. 

Peru,  151 ;  368  ;  369. 

Peter,  47  ;  53  ;  55  ;  67,  68  ;  76. 

Peter  of  Ghent,  371. 

Peter  of  Lucolongo,  126. 

Petit-jean,  M.,  178. 

Pharos  Island,  25. 

Philemon,  67. 

Philip.  32  ;  53. 

Philip  II,  155f ;  157;  360. 

Philip  of  Crete,  239. 

Tbilippi,  20;  31. 

Philippine  Islands,  the,  150-167  ; 
first  teachers  of  Christianity 
in,  166 ;  character  of  early 
missionaries,  102  ;  emancipa- 
tion of  slaves,  151  ;  home  mis- 
sions in,  166,  167  :  foreign 
missions  from,  137,  138  ;  159- 
161;  174-177. 

I'hilo,  17;  19;  22;  187;  "Mon- 
archy." 23;  concerning  the 
Septuagint,  25,  26. 

Phoebe,  235. 

l'hrygia,   19  ;  47. 

Picolo,  373. 


5oo 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Pigafetta,  152. 

Plato,  12;  22;  71. 

Pless,  Count,  345,  346. 

Plessis,  Paciflgue  du,  384. 

Pliny,  20  ;  letter  to  Trajan  con- 
cerning Christianity,  68,  69. 

Pliitschau,  104  ;  223. 

Plutarch,  20. 

Plymouth,  398  ;  405. 

Point  St.  Ignace,  390. 

Poland,  116 ;  329. 

Polltarchs,  the,  434. 

Polo,  Maffeo,  121. 

Polo,  Marco,  121. 

Polo,  Nicolo,  121. 

Polycarp,  251. 

Pomerania,  329,  330. 

Pontus,  19  ;  47  ;  67. 

Port  Royal,  381. 

Portugal,  209-213. 

Portuguese  missions,  in  India, 
93;  in  Africa,  93;  209-213; 
216 ;  in  South  America,  93 ; 
in  Amboyna  and  Ceylon,  101, 
102  ;  in  America,  355  ;  362. 

Potninus,   251. 

Prescott,  concerning  missionary 
intentions  of  Spain,  358,  359. 

Prester  John,  116  ;  117. 

Pringle,  Thomas,  concerning  de- 
struction of  Bosjesmen,  220. 

Priscilla,  66  ;  233  ;  240f. 

Providentia,  179. 

Prudentius,  250. 

Prussia,  309. 

Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  24. 

Porto    Rico,    360. 

P'u-lun,  111. 

Purchas,  195. 

Pyritz,  330. 
Pythagoras,  71. 

Quadratus,  42  ;  235  ;  432  ;  433. 
Quaque,  Philip,  216. 
Quebec,  384,  385. 
Quen,  Jean  du,  385. 


Quiodomari,  176. 

Rale,  Sebastian,  383. 

Rashid-eddin,  115. 

Ratislav,  323. 

Rauch,  Christian  Henry,  416. 

Reichler,  Henry,  364. 

Remigius,  255. 

Rheims,  256. 

Rho,  Giacomo,  139. 

Rhode  Island,  405ff. 

Ricci,  Matteo,  138f  ;  142  ;  149. 

Richard,  Gabriel,  394. 

Richardie,  Armand  de  la,  391. 

Rimbert,  318. 

Roe,  Sir  Thomas,  98 ;  concern- 
ing Jesuit  missions  in  India, 
98,  99. 

Roger,   John,   373. 

Romans,  mission  of  the,  7ff ;  gov- 
ernment, 7  ;  9  ;  law,  9  ;  legions, 
7;  officers,  7;  roads,  8;  reli- 
gion, 10,  11 ;  political  life,  11  ; 
social  life,  11 ;  domestic  life, 
11,  12  ;  spread  of  Judaism 
among,  27ff ;  Paul's  letter  to, 
234. 

Rome,  Jews  in,  18,  19,  47  ;  Chris- 
tianity in,  240-244  ;  441. 

Rouen,    253. 

Roxbury  (Rosqbray),  384,  385; 
408. 

Rubruk,  William,  119f. 

Ruegen,  Island,  330. 

Rueffer,  J.,  85. 

Russia,  325-328  ;  origin  of  liter- 
ature, 323 ;  introduction  of 
Christianity,  325. 

Sabatier,  Life  of  Francis  of  As- 
sisi,  58. 

Saenrese,   388. 

Sagas,  the,  332  ;  concerning  the 
christening  of  certain  Ice- 
landers, 334ff ;  concerning 
church-building      in     Iceland, 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


50I 


337,  338  ;  concerning  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity  in  Green- 
land, 339,  340. 

Sahara,  the,  18. 

Saint  Asaph,  269. 

Saint  Augustine,  373,  374. 

Saint  Croix  Island,  423. 

Saint  Gall,  306. 

Saint  Jan,  424. 

Saint  Kitts  Island,  424. 

Saint  Thomas,  424. 

Salamanca,  the  University  of, 
359. 

Salamis,  19 ;  57. 

Salem,   405. 

Sales,  Francis  de,  386. 

Salvatierra,  John,  373. 

Salvian,  concerning  Goths  and 
Romanists,   254. 

Samaria,  49  ;  52,  53. 

Samaritans,  39  ;  53. 

Samarkand,  113. 

San-Chan  Island,  137. 

Sande,  Don  Francisco,  160  ;  161. 

San  Diego,  376. 

Sandobal,  Alonzo  de,  369. 

San  Domingo,  360. 

Sandwich,  391. 

San  Francisco,  376. 

San  Gabriel,  374. 

San  Jose,  Ferdinand  de,  175. 

San  Salvador,  362. 

Santa  Barbara,  376. 

Sapphira,  51. 

Saragossa,  249,  250. 

Saul,  54 ;  60,  61 ;  in  Arabia,  83- 
85 ;  see  Paul. 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  389  ;  394. 

Saxons,  the,  307,  308. 

Saxony,  302;  307,  308. 

Sayki,  175. 

Scandinavians,  the,  311-321. 

Scellium  (Cosreen),  200. 

Schall,  Adam,  139  ;  141 ;  142. 

Schenectady,  415. 

Schlelermacber,  442. 


Schleswig,  315. 
Schmidt,  224-226. 
Schiirer,  Emil,  21. 
Schumann,  Solomon,  424. 
Schwartz,    Christian    Friedrich, 

105,  106. 
Scotland  [Caledonia],  268-272. 
Sergeant,  John,  412. 
Sergeant,  John,  Jr.,  413  . 
Seleucia,  57. 

Seleucia-Ctesiphon,  77,  83. 
Sempad,  Epistle  of,  118. 
Seneca,  10;  28. 
Serai,  133. 

Serfogee,  Maha,  106. 
Sergius  Paulus,  60,  61. 
Serra,  Juniper,  376. 
Seu,  Candida,  139. 
Seu,  Paul,  139. 
Severina,  244. 
Severinus,  296,  297. 
Severus,  Alexander,  244. 
Shackmaxon,  418. 
Shapur  II,  82. 
Shinnecock  Indians,  416. 
Sibylline  Oracles,  21,  22. 
Sidon,   40. 
Sierra  Leone,  216. 
Sigfrid,  318. 
Sigward,  318. 
Silas,  31 ;  64 ;  229,  230. 
Sillery,  385. 
Silva,  John,  374. 
Simeon,  the  Black,  57 ;  195. 
Simon  of  Cyrene,  194. 
Simon  the  Sorcerer,  53. 
Sinim,  the  land  of,  16 ;  113. 
Skotkonung,  Olaf,  318. 
Slavs,  the,  321-330  ;  apostles  of, 

321ff ;     origin    of    literature, 

323  ;  325. 
Socotra,  77;  90. 
Socrates,    historian,    concerning 

the  Burgundians,  253,  254. 
Soerensen,  John,  349. 
Solani,  Francis  de,  368. 


502 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Soudan,  the,  204. 

Southey,  Robert,  concerning  the 
"Reductions,"  367  ;  concerning 
missions  in  South  America, 
370. 

Sozomen,  58. 

Spain,  248-251  ;  missionary  mo- 
tive in  conquests  of,  150,  151 ; 
356,  357  ;  358,  359  ;  missions 
of  in  America,  355  ;  358. 

Spangenberg,  420. 

Stach,  Anna,  347. 

Stach,  Christian.  345ff. 

Stach,  Madam,  347. 

Stach,  Matthew,  345ff. 

Stach,  Rosina,  347. 

Stavorinus,  concerning  religion 
in  Dutch  India,  101,  102. 

Stefnin,    334. 

Stephen,  51 ;  54  ;  59. 

Stephen  of  Serai,  133. 

Stettin,  330. 

Stockbridge,  412,  413. 

Strabo,  17 ;  concerning  Moses, 
26,  27. 

Strangford  Lough,  263. 

Strathclyde,  269. 

Student  Volunteers,  94 ;  99 
104,  105 ;  188 ;  253 ;  270 
297  ;  301 ;  303 ;  304.  305 
321  ;  341 ;  359  ;  415  ;  419 
420  ;  422  ;  see  Missions,  train 
ing  schools  for. 

Sturm,  306. 

Sultania,  134. 

Sumatra,  103. 

Sumitando,  173,  174. 

Sundia,  213. 

Surinam,  425. 

Sweden,  316-319. 

Sweyn,  316. 

Swibert,  301. 

Symphorian,  252. 

Synagogue  of  Freed  Slaves,  51. 

Synagogues  as  missionary  cen- 
ters, 19,  20. 


Syntyche,  229. 

Syria,  46-58  ;  home  missions,  52- 
58  ;   city  missions,  49-52. 

Tacitus,  20 ;  concerning  Chris- 
tians in  Rome,  242,  243  ;  con- 
cerning the  Finns,   322. 

Tackamason,  John,  411f. 

Tackawambit,  409. 

Tadousac,  384,  385. 

Tai  Tsung,  109;  111. 

Tamaroa,  392. 

Tanchat,  118. 

Tang,    110. 

Tanjore,  105,  106. 

Taprobane  [Ceylon],  90. 

Tara,  264. 

Tatian,  246,  247;  432,  433. 

Tatars,  the,  85  ;  115-149  ;  char- 
acteristics of  their  dominion, 
115,  120,  121  ;  conversion  of 
the  Keraits,  115 ;  division  of 
the  sovereignty,  132. 

Tatary,  115-141. 

Tegakouita,  Catherine,  388. 

Temple  courts,  29  ;  50  ;  court  of 
the  Gentiles,  29,  30. 

Terante,  103. 

Tertullian,  200;  432,  433;  his 
writings,  201  ;  concerning 
Spain,  249 ;  concerning  Brit- 
ain, 258. 

Teutonic  Knights,  the,  309. 

Texas,  375. 

Thaddeus,  74  ;  76. 

Thanet  Isle,   277. 

Thangbrand,  Olaf,  334,  335  ;  337. 

Thecla,  305. 

Theophilus,   433. 

Theophilus,  missionary  to  Ara- 
bia, 84. 

Thessaloniea,  19 ;  31 ;  230ff ; 
321  ;    434  ;    442. 

Thiodhild,  340. 

Thomas,    88. 

Thomas  of  Malabar,  89,  90. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


503 


Thompson,  Thomas,  216. 

Thor's  Oak,  306. 

Thorwald,  333. 

Three  Kings,  the,  118. 

Three  Rivers,  384. 

Thuringia,  306. 

Thury.  Peter,  382,  383. 

Tibet,  129. 

Timor,  103. 

Timotheus,  80. 

Timothy,  63,  64  ;  229  ;  234. 

Tiradates  III,  79,  80. 

Titus,  234. 

Titus  Justus,  31. 

Tobago,  424. 

Tobias,  168. 

Tokio,  176. 

Tondo,   158. 

Torres,  Cosm6  de,  170 ;  172-174. 

Totnan,  299. 

Tourakina,  117. 

Trajan,  56  ;  68. 

Tranquebar,  104,  105. 

Translation  of  Scriptures,  6 ; 
24-26;  266;  272;  291;  the 
Septuagint,  24,  25  ;  first  into 
a  western  tongue,  203 ;  into 
Syriac,  77  ;  into  Malayan,  100  ; 
Into  Cingalese,  103  ;  into  Goth- 
ic, 295  ;  into  Tamil,  105  ;  into 
Slavonian,  323  ;  into  Indian, 
409  ;  by  Carey,  172  ;  by  Han- 
jiro,   177  ;  by  Aquila,  26. 

Travaneore,  95. 

Tricheropalle,  97. 

Trichinopoli,  105. 

Tryggvesson,  Olaf.319,  820  ;  334. 

Tschoop,  416. 

Tsiuan-chau,  127. 

Tuglavina,  353,  354. 

Tunis,  205,  207. 

Tupac,  Serai,  368. 

Tupas,  155,  156. 

Turks,   115. 

Tyre,  40. 


Ulfilas,  294,  295. 

Ung-Kalm,  134. 

Upsala,  319  ;  the  University  of, 

295. 
Urban  VIII,  176. 
Urdinseta,   155,   156. 
Usbeck,  133. 
Usuki,  convent  of,  175. 

Valens,  238. 

Valignan,  Alexander,  174. 

Vander  Stall,  Peter,  223. 

Van  Riebeck,  Jan,  219. 

Vedastus,  255. 

Venezuela,  360. 

Vera  Cruz,  Alfonso  de,  370. 

Verblest,  Ferdinand,  140,  141 ; 
142. 

Verolles,  concerning  Infant  bap- 
tism, 144. 

Verrier,  Jean  le,  208. 

VIcelin,  330. 

VIctricus,   253. 

Vielra,  Antonio,  365,  366. 

Viel,  Nicholas,  886. 

Vienna,  296. 

VIenne,  251. 

Villela,  173. 

Virginia,  374. 

Vivera,  368. 

Vizcaino,  376. 

Vladimir,  325-328 ;  his  study  of 
religions.  325-327. 

Von  Watteville,  John,  420. 

Wales,  259  ;  269. 
Walpurgis.  305,  306. 
Welnau,  313. 
Wends,  the,  330. 
Wequash,  399  ;  406,  407  ;  grand- 
son of,  414. 
Werenfrid,  302. 
Wesley,  John,  420  ;  442,  443. 
West  Indies,  359ff  ;  421-425. 
Wheelock,  Eleazer,  414. 
Whitby,  the  Council  of,  291. 


5<H 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


White  House  of  Whithorn, 

Whiiiield,  414. 

Wigbert,  302. 

Wilfrid,  290-292. 

Willehad,  308. 

Williams,    Roger,    399-408 

"Key,"  402. 
Willibald,  302;  305. 
Willibrord,  301,   302;  312, 
Wine,  Bishop,  289. 
Winfrid  [Boniface],  302ff. 
Winnibald,  302  ;  305. 
Women's  Work,  27  ;  31  ;  53 

69  ;   80  ;  81 ;   113 ;  127 ; 

139;    140;    173;    188; 

229;    233;    240;    244; 

255,     256;    267;    280; 

289  ;  291 ;  305,  306  ;  325, 

327  ;  328,  329  ;  340  ;  342  ; 

346;    347;    352;    353; 

385;  388;  419. 
Wiirtzburg,  299. 


268. 


his 


313. 


;  66 
134 

200 
252 
281 
326 
344 
358 


Xavler,  Francis,  93ff  ;  137  ;  169ff ; 


390;    432;    443;    comparison 
with  William  Carey,  171,  172. 

Xavier,  Geronimo,  97  ;  98. 

Ximenes,    360. 


Yamaguchi,  171. 
Yeman,   77. 
Yezd-buzid,  109. 
Yunlie,  140. 

Zayton  [Tsiuan-chau],  127,  128  : 

357. 
Zealandia,  179. 
Zeisberger,  David,  420. 
Zenobius,  80. 
Ziegenbalg,    Bartholomew,    104 ; 

105  ;  223  ;  443. 
Zimbales,  161. 
Zinzendorf,    Count,    345 ;    351 : 

419  ;  422  ;  444. 
Zuccelli.215. 
Zumarraga,  Bishop,  371. 


TOfop; 


